NEW CADRE POLICY IN OFFING

In every interaction with babus Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been encouraging them to go out in the field and not restrict themselves to files to learn about decisionmaking. It’s not known how many babus have felt inspired to act on his suggestion, but there is a new radical move by the government which babus may not be able to opt out of.

The Modi government has formulated a new policy for cadre allocation for IAS, IPS and other officers, aimed at ensuring “national integration” in the country’s top bureaucracy. Officers of all-India services — the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service — will have to choose cadres from a set of zones instead of states.

At present, officers of the three services are allocated a cadre state or a set of states to work in. They may be posted on Central deputation during the course of their service after fulfilling certain eligibility conditions. According to sources, the existing 26 cadres have been divided into five zones in the new policy proposed by the department of personnel and training. The new policy will seek to ensure that officers from Bihar, for instance, will get to work in southern and northeastern states, which may not be their preferred cadres. The policy is likely to be put into effect from this year. Love them, hate them ignore them at national peril, is the babu guarantee and Dilip’s belief. Share significant babu escapades dilipcherian@hotmail.com