<P> IFS (B) is the feeder cadre which ranks below the IFS (A) and recruits members through a separate entrance exam and after a period of 8 years are appointed and absorbed into the service . Below the IFS (B) are the stenographers who provide secretarial support to both the IFS (A) and IFS (B) but especially the senior cadre . </P> <P> The relations between the cadres and secretarial personnel have been marked by territorial grievance and rivalry, becoming at times heated enough to spill into the public sphere . A common grievance among IFS (A) officers is the practice of antedating the appointment of IFS (B) officers 8 years before the date of their actual promotion . This puts the IFS (B) officers, who are seen as less prestigious, ahead for promotions of IFS (A) officers who directly entered the service before them . In 2013, 6 IFS (A) officers went as far as to lodge a complaint, against their foreign secretary as well as eight IFS (B) officers named as respondents, with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for clogging the promotion pipeline and leading to "demotivation and demoralisation among direct recruit officers". </P> <P> IFS (B) officers have also complained of discrimination against them by IFS (A) officers . A Facebook group purportedly voicing the objections of IFS (B) officers sprung up in 2016 when IFS (B) officer Tajinder Singh, Second Secretary in the Indian embassy in Lisbon died of an apparent suicide . The Facebook group alleged that Singh was treated unfairly because he was forced to yield his choice assignment in Washington DC after serving in a hardship posting in Damascus . He was forced to give up his choice assignment for Lisbon because of alleged "discrimination and professional challenges from IFS (A) officers in the ministry". </P> <P> IFS (B) officers themselves have an acrimonious rivalry with the secretarial personnel or stenographers who are perceived to be lower in prestige than the IFS (B) officers but have a closer working relationship with IFS (A) officers, giving the stenographers at times promotion opportunities ahead of IFS (B) officers . This rivalry was brought to the fore when a stenographer was appointed as Indian ambassador to North Korea in 2012 . Within a week of the appointment IFS (B) officers vociferously protested . Three different associations representing IFS (B) officers came together to write a single complaint to the Prime Minister's Office and the external affairs minister expressing their "utter disappointment" and requesting a review of the appointment . </P>

What is the role of an ifs officer