IAS officers to adopt martyrs' families

In a unique initiative, IAS officers will adopt families of security personnel, who lost their lives in Maoist combat, anti-terror operations or maintaining law and order.

The bureaucrats will approach such families within their area of posting and offer themselves as facilitators to help them (families) get their dues like pension, gratuity or allotment of services like petrol pump, jobs etc, an association representing them said.

The officers, however, would not be providing any direct financial help to such families, it said.

"Their job would be to help the families get their dues from respective governments. They

also help the children in such families to get admission in a school," Sanjay Bhoosreddy, honorary secretary of Indian Civil and Administrative Service (Central) Association, said.

The association represents all members of Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Initially, about 700 young officers, of past four batches–2012 to 2015–will be asked to adopt at least one family in the area of their posting.

"Senior officers, or those from state civil services, can also adopt such families voluntarily," Bhoosreddy, a Joint-Secretary level IAS officer, said.

The officers will oversee whether the support (both in cash and kind) pledged by the state or local governments have been provided to the family concerned.