NEW DELHI: Amid objections were raised about the proposed amendments in the IAS/IPS/IFS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, the Centre on Tuesday asserted that the proposed amendments are aimed at removing the non-availability of a sufficient number of officers in the Government of India, which is affecting the functioning of the Centre.
The Centre said that the actual number of officers to be deputed to the Centre shall be decided only in consultation with the states.
“Centre requires officers to get fresh inputs in policy formulation and programme implementation. Movement of officers between states and the Centre ensures professional growth of officers,” it said.
A trend of decreasing representation of IAS officers up to the joint secretary (JS) level in the Government of India has been noticed, as most of the states are not meeting their Central Deputation Reserve (CDR) obligations.
In spite of an increase in the number of IAS officers at DS/Director level from 621 in 2014 to 1,130 in 2021, the number of such officers on Central deputation has gone down from 117 to 114 during this period.
The state cadre may provide such number of officers as part of Central Deputation Reserve only after adjusting the same proportionately with the number of officers available in the cadre.
Most of the Opposition-ruled states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Kerala and Telangana have expressed strong protest against the proposed amendments to the All India Services (Cadre) Rules and said that the move is against the federal policy of the Constitution.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday wrote to the PM strongly, opposing the changes, saying that the proposed amendments will also seriously erode the All-India Service character of the IAS, IPS and IFS.