President Droupadi Murmu used her recent interaction with 2024-batch IAS officers at Rashtrapati Bhawan to deliver a balanced lesson in administrative temperament. Addressing officers who called on her and who are serving as Assistant Secretaries across Union Ministries, the President urged them to remain compassionate and inclusive without allowing emotion to overwhelm judgment. Her formulation was simple: Be sensitive, but not sentimental. Murmu reminded the young officers: “Your sensitivity will be the measure of your commitment to inclusivity. You have to blend compassion with rationality and you need to be sensitive without being sentimental and while following the rule, you should not lose sight of the larger objectives.”
2025 batch IPS officers in limbo
The IPS officers selected through the UPSC’s 2025 examination cycle are still uncertain about their postings. IAS and IFoS officers from that batch got their cadre allocations last December, but the home ministry continues to withhold notifications for IPS officers, despite the next recruitment cycle opening on May 24. The delay is making the probationers anxious because postings are linked to training alignments and service planning. Initially, many officers suspected the hold-up was caused by changes in the cadre allocation policy. Government officials, however, maintained revisions do not directly affect candidates from the 2025 cycle. The prevailing explanation inside official circles points instead towards unresolved administrative processing under the allocation framework.
Delhi’s Manipur reset with new DGP
The Centre’s appointment of 1996-batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer Mukesh Singh as Manipur’s DGP has completed an administrative realignment in the violence-scarred state. With 1991-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer Puneet Kumar Goel already functioning as Chief Secretary, both the bureaucracy and policing structure are now under officers drawn from outside Manipur’s state cadre ecosystem. Officials describe the arrangement as a rare administrative manoeuvreby the Centre. New Delhi’s decision aims to bypass regional administrative silos to deal with the prolonged crisis on its own terms.
Employees’ attendance clock ticks
The CPWD has become stricter with employees following an internal review that revealed indifference towards Aadhaar-based biometric attendance norms and time discipline. Senior officials have now instructed all unit heads and cadre controlling authorities to ensure employees report punctually and mark attendance through the designated biometric portal. The message circulating within the department is stern: Attendance compliance is not just a formality. Officers have also been asked to monitor attendance records and not treat irregularities casually. Employees have been reminded that they cannot proceed on leave without prior approval from competent authorities. Unauthorised absence, officials warned, will invite disciplinary proceedings under service rules.
Annamalai and the home bet buzz
K Annamalai’s possible Rajya Sabha entry is being interpreted within BJP circles as something larger than post-election accommodation. Senior leaders believe the former Tamil Nadu BJP chief is being considered for a Minister of State position in the Home Ministry during the expected Cabinet expansion after June 15. A former IPS officer who transitioned aggressively into politics, Annamalai is regarded internally as disciplined, politically dependable and organisationally sharp. Speculation is that he could replace a current MoS from a southern state in the Home Ministry. Internal security responsibilities require someone sharp, disciplined and politically astute, qualities he has developed over time with his policing background, remarked a BJP leader.