Provincial Development Service

Half of the recruitment to the service is made on the basis of an annual competitive examination conducted by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission. Half of the total strength of PDS officers is filled by promotion from departmental officers. PDS officers, regardless of their mode of entry, are appointed by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. == Career progression ==

After completing their training, a PDS officer generally serves as Block Development Officer in blocks in a district or Assistant Commissioners in Commissionerate of Rural Development. After that, they get promoted as District Development Officer or as Project Director of District Rural Development Agency or Deputy Commissioners of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (popularly known as DC MGNREGA) or Deputy commissioners of National Rural Livelihood Mission (popularly known as DC NRLM) and later as, Chief Development Officer in districts or as Joint Development Commissioners in divisions and as Joint Commissioners in Commissionerate of Rural Development. Subsequently, they get promoted as Additional Commissioner in Commissionerate of Rural Development. Salary structure ==Officer Posting Controversy==

The PDS Association demanded that IAS and PCS officers not be to posted as CDO, claiming that they have no expertise in rural development. They also claim that it takes much longer for PDS officers to be promoted than PCS or IAS officers. As a result, the state government reserved CDO posts of twenty-eight districts of Uttar Pradesh for PDS officers. However, The PDS Association claimed that the districts that had been reserved for PDS officers were backward ones. == See also ==