Central Health Service (CHS) is an Organised Central (Group-A) Civil Service of the Government of India. The Cadre controlling authority of Central Health Service is the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and it is the only Organised Group-A service under MoHFW. CHS is one of the three Organised Health Services of the Government of India, other two being the Indian Railway Health Service (IRHS) and Indian Ordnance Factory Health Service (IOFHS). CHS Officers are involved in providing clinical care, medical education, health administration and implementation of Health Programs through various Central Government Institutions.

CHS has 4 sub-cadres

The CHS posts are Gazetted and the roles & responsibilities of the CHS Officers varies with the sub-cadre and the organisation/units to which the appointments are made.

In 1957, the Government of India initiated steps to constitute a Central Health Service, consisting of all posts in the Central Health Cadre such as Medical, Public Health and Medical Research posts in the General Central Services Class I and Class II, excluding the posts under Ministries of Railways and Defence. The Rules for the Constitution of the Central Health Service was notified in May 1963. Initially the service had two streams, (i) General Duty Officer (GDO) and (ii) Specialists. MBBS Graduates were recruited at GDO Grade II which was a Class II post and were eligible for promotion after 5 years to GDO Grade I, which was a Class I post. Doctors with Post-Graduate Qualification were also recruited to GDO stream, but at GDO Grade I level.

Though an All India Service called Indian Medical and Health Service (IMHS) was planned to be constituted with CHS officers in 1969, it was not implemented. In 1973, CHS was declared as a Class I service. Till 1974, the Medical and Public Health posts under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was included in CHS. On 18 February 1977, the UPSC conducted the first Combined Examination for recruitment to Medical posts under Central Government, including CHS. Prior to 1977, the selection to these posts was on the basis of interview. In 1982, CHS was restructured into 4 sub-cadres, as it exists today.

On 21 August 1989, a Memorandum of Settlement (MOS) was signed between the Government and the Joint Action Council of Service Doctors Organisations (JACSDO) to improve the service conditions and the career progression. Following this a High Power Committee (Tikku Committee) was constituted to look into these issues.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Combined Medical Services Examination (CMSE) every year to recruit officers to various health service cadres including to Medical Officer Grade (Level-10 / Junior Time Scale) of GDMO sub-cadre of CHS. There is a separate recruitment process by UPSC for the Specialist posts of the remaining sub-cadres. The recruitment to Specialist Sub-cadre are done at Level-11 (Senior Time Scale).

General Duty Medical Officers of the CHS undergo their Foundation Training Program (FTP) with special focus on Health administration at the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), New Delhi.