The Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and the Indian Forest Service (IFS) are collectively known as the All India Services. These services are the three civil services of India. The recruitment to these services is conducted through the Union Public Service Commission, based on the annual Civil Services Examination, a competitive civil service exam. This is aimed to protect the civil service from political influences and avert the development of a patronage system. The All India Services Act of 1951 empowers the government of India to make, after discussion with state governments, rules and regulation of the recruitment and conditions of service of the persons appointed for the ranks of All India Service.

The officers of the All India Services are employed and trained by the national Union Government but work under states, which is why the Indian Foreign Service is considered to be a "central service" instead of an All India Service. Officers are organized into proper cadres. Twenty-four states have their own cadre, but there are also three joint cadres for the Union Territories, namely Assam - Meghalaya, Manipur - Tripura, and ArunachalPradesh - Goa- Mizoram -Union Territories (AGMUT).