CHENNAI/KOCHI: Chief Minister MK Stalin and his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop the proposed amendments to IAS Cadre Rules as they would go against principles of federalism and rights of State governments.
While Stalin said the move would lead to concentration of powers with the Centre and cause friction between the Union and State governments, Vijayan said the move will induce fear psychosis and attitude of hesitancy among All-India Service Officers in implementing State government policies.
Stalin’s letter dated January 22nd was in response to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) circular seeking opinion of the State governments on the proposal to meet personnel requirements of the Union government.
Charging the Union government for the shortage of IAS officers, Stalin said many State governments, too, are woefully short of officers at specific seniority levels primarily due to the wrong cadre management policies of the Centre. “While the Union government is using the common pool of Group-I officers at the national level, the State governments solely depend on the limited pool of IAS officers available in the State,” the CM said.
The DoPT had proposed the amendment in the IAS Cadre Rules (1954) in which an additional condition was inserted in Rule 6(1): “Provided that each State government shall make available for deputation to the Union Government, the number of eligible officers of various levels to the extent of the Central Deputation Reserve prescribed under regulations referred to in Rule 4(1), adjusted proportionately by the number of officers available with the State government concerned vis-à-vis the total authorised strength of the State cadre at a given point of time. The actual number of officers to be deputed to the Union Government will be decided by the Centre in consultation with the State concerned.”
‘Centre grossly violating federal structure again’
The proposal added, “In specific situations, where services of officers are required by the Union government in the public interest, the Centre may seek the services of such officers for posting.”
Highlighting the adverse impact of the amendments, the CM said, “The ramifications are ominous and I would state that the Union government’s hasty eagerness to bring such drastic changes into the basic structures of the system without going through consultative process is once again grossly violative of the federal structure of the nation. Neither the bureaucracy nor the State governments, the two important stakeholders in this serious issue, welcome this move.”
The CM said the Centre must engage with States to strengthen the federal spirit and take forward the noble ideals of our forefathers with reference to the administrative steel frame enshrined in the Constitution. Later, Stalin tweeted, “I also request other CMs to express their opinion on this proposal which shakes the foundation of federalism.”