The constitutional basis of the IAS, IPS and IFoS — a common cadre that serves both the Union and the States.
Article 312 empowers the Rajya Sabha to pass a resolution, by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, declaring that it is necessary in the national interest for Parliament to create one or more new All-India Services (AIS) common to the Union and the States.
There are currently three: the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), both pre-dating the Constitution in an earlier form, and the Indian Forest Service (IFoS), created in 1966 using the Article 312 mechanism.
Members of an All-India Service are recruited by the Union (through the UPSC) but are allotted to State cadres and serve both the Union and State governments at different points in their careers — unlike Central Services (Union only) or State Services (States only). This is often called the "steel frame" of Indian administration, intended to maintain a common all-India outlook and administrative uniformity across the federation.
Disciplinary control is shared: the State government initiates disciplinary proceedings, but the final authority for major penalties rests with the Union Government (the President) — a safeguard against victimisation of AIS officers by State governments.
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