9 non-BJP ruled states oppose proposal on IAS officers' Central deputation
New Delhi: As many as nine non-BJP ruled states have opposed the Centre's proposal that gives it an overriding power while deciding on central deputation of IAS officers, whereas eight others have given their consent, officials said on Wednesday.
A reminder will soon be sent to the states and Union Territories which have not yet responded to the proposal on making changes in the relevant service rules, they said.
Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan have raised their voice against the amendments, the officials said.
On the other hand, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have given their consent, they added.
Karnataka and Meghalaya had opposed the proposal initially sent to them last month but are expected to send a revised proposal, the officials said, adding that Bihar had also opposed the move earlier.
While the nine states opposed the suggested changes saying they were against the federal structure of the country, the Centre has defended its proposal asserting that the states are not sparing a sufficient number of IAS officers for deputation which is affecting its functioning, the officials said.
Sources in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said a trend of decreasing representation of IAS officers, up to the joint secretary-level at the Centre, has been noticed as most of the states are not meeting their Central Deputation Reserve (CDR) obligations and the number of officers, sponsored by them to serve at the Centre is much lesser.
Officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) are allocated a cadre, which is a state/states or states and Union Territories. Every cadre is allowed a CDR to ensure that officers have the opportunity to work on Central deputation, which adds to their experience. According to DoPT sources, the number of IAS officers on CDR has gone down from 309 in 2011 to 223 as of date.
