The number of OBC officers in the IFS has doubled over a decade, rising from 107 in 2015 to 217 in 2025, alongside an increase in total cadre strength from 718 to 954.
Distribution across senior ranks shows wider representation at Director and Joint Secretary levels, but no OBC officers at the Secretary tier, where SC and ST officers number one each.
Sanctioned strength has steadily increased from 941 in 2017 to 1,123 in 2024 and 1,177 in 2025.
The number of OBC officers in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) has doubled from 107 to 217, while the overall cadre strength has increased from 718 to 954, in the last decade.
As of December 1, 2025, there are 200 SC/ST officers, marking a rise across reserved categories. In 2015, data placed before the Lok Sabha showed 107 were OBCs, 96 were SCs and 54 were STs, with nearly 65 per cent belonging to the “general” category.
The 2025 data also records 263 women officers, though information on minority representation continues not to be maintained separately.
Across senior ranks in the IFS, at the Director level, there are eight OBC officers, 12 SC officers, four ST officers and 15 women. Among Joint Secretaries, the numbers stand at 13 OBC, six SC, two ST and 15 women.
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The Additional Secretary tier includes four OBC officers, one SC/ST officer each and three women. At the top of the hierarchy, the Secretary level currently has no OBC officers, while SC and ST officers number one each, alongside two women.
As of February 1, 2025, the sanctioned strength of IFS ‘A’ officers in the Ministry stood at 1,177. “Currently there are 6277 officers/officials including local staff serving in 218 Missions/Posts abroad,” the Ministry of External Affairs told the Parliament. It added that the requirement of manpower changes depending upon varying workload from time to time, which is regularly reviewed.
In 2024, the total sanctioned strength was 1,123 for the IFS. In 2017, the sanctioned strength of the IFS was 941.
A total of 386 Indian Foreign Service officers were deployed in 124 Indian Missions abroad in 2012. On the Parliamentary query over officers belonging to SC and ST categories, mission-wise; the ministry stated that “Indian Missions are not earmarked based on categories.”
