Military Engineer Services

Indian Defence Service of Engineers (IDSE) is a highly prestigious engineering services who are the backbone of the infrastructure of the Indian Armed Forces and are selected through the prestigious Indian Engineering Services examination conducted by UPSC and initially posted as Assistant Director(staff appointment) or Assistant Garrison Engineer (executive appointment) and then promoted up to Director General (Pers)(HAG level post). These officers, when on an executive appointment, are responsible for overall functioning of their offices by way of providing B/R or E/m services in garrison or on project, While on staff appointment they are associated with planning, structural design, legal and pers matters.

Officers who are promoted to EE from AE(departmental promote from JE level) automatically become part of IDSE Gp A services.

Corps of Engineers Officers along with the Military Junior Engineers and Clerical staff form the Military Cadre in the MES. The officers, JCOs and other ranks are posted to MES Establishments on Tenures. Officers tenate appointments ranging from Assistant Garrison Engineers to Engineer-in-Chief.

The Indian Defence Contract Management Service (IDCMS) .[2] is a civil service of the Government of India. IDCMS officers are Gazetted (Group A) defence-civilian officers under the Ministry of Defence. They are responsible for all the financial matters including procurement, tendering, contract management, dispute resolution, arbitration, and quantity surveying. IDCMS (Indian Defence Contract Management Service) is one of the organised Group 'A' Services of Union of India under Administrative Control of Ministry of Defence. IDCMS officers are basically Civil Engineers by qualification who are expert in the field of Public Procurement, Contract Management, Arbitration, Quantity Surveying and negotiating the terms and conditions of Contract and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions of Contract for the purpose of maximising financial and operational performance and minimising risk and disputes.

The officers in this cadre are involved in all the stages of Contract Management from issue of NIT up to Arbitration and Court Cases. Interalia they are involved in framing of specifications, detailed contract drafting, competitive bidding and analysis of tenders and its acceptance.IDCMS is they Procurement and Contract Management specialist service in all of Central Govt Services.

Architect cadre officers are responsible for producing the architectural drawings of various buildings and other structures. These officers are posted as Deputy Architect and promoted up to Additional Director General (Arch.)

The Barrack Service Cadre is as old as Military Engineer Services though it remained under the Control of respective Station Commanders in the initial years during pre-independence era.The Barrack Organisation was originally introduced in 1946 to build up a service of the Barrack Department on the British Army Pattern, eventually to place it under the Army Service Corps as in United Kingdom. Special Army Order 5/S/48 was issued setting up the Barrack Service by the MES to be ultimately transferred to the OC Station for Revenue Duties. Thus the cadre was responsible to two authorities, one to the MES for furniture and stores and the other to the Station Commander for revenue duties such as handing/taking over of buildings, submission of occupation/vacation returns, issue Licence Fee Bills, recovery of rent & allied charges from paying consumers in occupation of defence land/buildings etc. The position was reviewed during 1949 and a Memorandum of Procedure, Organisation and Duties of Barrack Services was issued in July 1949. Accordingly, Barrack Services was made responsible for Revenue duties and responsibility of billing was transferred from Station Commander to the BO function independently under Commander Works Engineers. Barrack & Store Branch provides Barrack services in addition to procuring, accounting, stocking/preserving and issuing of stores, both for works and maintenance. Barrack services include handing/taking over of buildings to/from units & officers/staff and providing & maintaining technical & married accn furniture. These services also include regular billing for rent, water and electricity consumed by service personnel, civilian officers/staff & private parties and charging for barrack damages whenever occur.The B/S officers are posted as Barrack Stores OFFICER and promoted up to PRINCIPAL BARRACK STORES OFFICER.

The Military Engineers was created and brought under the unified control of Engineer-in-Chief by the then Hon'ble Secretary of State of India by unification Royal Corps of Engineers Personnel and Civilian Staff on 26 September 1923.

Since then MES Day is celebrated on 26 September every year.

The Military Engineer Services consists of the following zones:[3]

• Indian Engineering Services
• UPSC