BENGALURU: In a U-turn, Karnataka has supported the Cent re’s controversial proposal to e mpower itself to unilaterally draw Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from state cadres to serve on central deputation. The state govern m ent had opposed the move only a week ago but changed its stand on Saturday.
The decision has dismayed several stakeholders including p olicy experts, senior officers, a nd opposition party function a ries as they see political reasons behind the move.
“The principle of a federal structure calls for equal powe rs for the Centre and states, b ut the Centre’s proposal to t weak deputation rules is a b low to this structure,” said J yotsna Jha, director of Centre f or Budget and Policy Studies. “Most unfortunately, political considerations are driving states to toe the Centre’s line. ”
The Centre contends that states are not sending enough I AS officers on deputation and t his is affecting the function ing of the central government.
Karnataka was among 11 states that opposed the Cent re’s proposal to amend IAS Cadre Rule-6, 1954 that empow – ers the Union government to pick any number of IAS or IPS officers from a state for central service without the consent of the respective state government.
The Union government on January 12 had sent a draft proposal to all states seeking their opinion on or before January 25. Karnataka had sent its reply on January 25 saying it cannot support the proposed amendment since it goes against the state’s interest.
“We had categorically said the Centre should not change IAS Cadre Rules since states would lose their legitimate right over adequate staff strength,” said a senior official. “However, we had to change our opinion owing to directions from higher authorities. We have sent a revised statement to the Centre. ”
The big concern is that the state may face an acute shortage of officers; it is already suffering a dearth of senior officials. The state has an authorised strength of 314 IAS officers, but only 252 are now serving and many are handling multiple responsibilities.
The Centre had tweaked the recruitment policy in 1992 and cut down intake of new IAS officers from 130 to 80 annually. As a result, Karnataka has faced a 20% shortage of senior officers for the past 10 years. The state’s share of officers has fallen to three when the actual requirement is 10.
Realising the problem, the Centre, in 2009, again revised the recruitment policy to increase intake to 150 and fur- ther increased the number to 180 in 2012. While this solved the problem of a shortage of junior IAS officers, it could take another five years at least to get the adequate strength at the higher level, including for posts like principal secretary and additional chief secretary.
The present rule says a state should ensure 40% reserve of its IAS officers for central deputation. But, the new amendment plans to remove this cap and the Centre will decide on the number of officers and timing of their deputation.
“The Centre should increase the intake before tweaking the rule. Also, it should examine why officials are hesitating to go on central service,” said former chief secretary K Jairaj.
The decision has dismayed several stakeholders including p olicy experts, senior officers, a nd opposition party function a ries as they see political reasons behind the move.
“The principle of a federal structure calls for equal powe rs for the Centre and states, b ut the Centre’s proposal to t weak deputation rules is a b low to this structure,” said J yotsna Jha, director of Centre f or Budget and Policy Studies. “Most unfortunately, political considerations are driving states to toe the Centre’s line. ”
The Centre contends that states are not sending enough I AS officers on deputation and t his is affecting the function ing of the central government.
Karnataka was among 11 states that opposed the Cent re’s proposal to amend IAS Cadre Rule-6, 1954 that empow – ers the Union government to pick any number of IAS or IPS officers from a state for central service without the consent of the respective state government.
The Union government on January 12 had sent a draft proposal to all states seeking their opinion on or before January 25. Karnataka had sent its reply on January 25 saying it cannot support the proposed amendment since it goes against the state’s interest.
“We had categorically said the Centre should not change IAS Cadre Rules since states would lose their legitimate right over adequate staff strength,” said a senior official. “However, we had to change our opinion owing to directions from higher authorities. We have sent a revised statement to the Centre. ”
The big concern is that the state may face an acute shortage of officers; it is already suffering a dearth of senior officials. The state has an authorised strength of 314 IAS officers, but only 252 are now serving and many are handling multiple responsibilities.
The Centre had tweaked the recruitment policy in 1992 and cut down intake of new IAS officers from 130 to 80 annually. As a result, Karnataka has faced a 20% shortage of senior officers for the past 10 years. The state’s share of officers has fallen to three when the actual requirement is 10.
Realising the problem, the Centre, in 2009, again revised the recruitment policy to increase intake to 150 and fur- ther increased the number to 180 in 2012. While this solved the problem of a shortage of junior IAS officers, it could take another five years at least to get the adequate strength at the higher level, including for posts like principal secretary and additional chief secretary.
The present rule says a state should ensure 40% reserve of its IAS officers for central deputation. But, the new amendment plans to remove this cap and the Centre will decide on the number of officers and timing of their deputation.
“The Centre should increase the intake before tweaking the rule. Also, it should examine why officials are hesitating to go on central service,” said former chief secretary K Jairaj.
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