Several retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers and civil society members submitted a joint memorandum, signed by Members of Parliament (MPs) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 10 February, demanding not to proceed with amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954.
In a joint statement by Jawhar Sircar and Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, the MPs said, "We need to initiate action against Governors in opposition-ruling states, particularly in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra for interfering in day to day administration, criticising constitutional authorities including Chief Ministers, Speaker, State Election Commission," news agency ANI reported.
The proposal, once approved, will give the Union government overriding powers to transfer IAS and IPS officers through Central deputation, doing away with the requirement of taking the approval of the state governments.
Earlier last month, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written twice to Modi expressing her strong reservations to the Centre's proposal to amend the rules.
Banerjee had written in her letter:
"I find the revised amendment proposal more draconian than the former, and indeed its very grain is against the foundations of our great federal polity and the basic structure of India's Constitutional scheme. The moot point of the further revised draft amendment proposal is that an officer, whom the Central government may choose to take out of a state to any part of the country without taking his/her consent and without the agreement of the state government under whom he or she is serving, may now stand released from his/her current assignment forthwith."
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had written to the states on 12 January stating that the Union government proposes to amend Rule 6 (deputation of cadre officers) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954.
Meanwhile, at least 11 states have opposed the changes, calling them an assault on India's federal structure.
What Are the Changes?
Four amendments have been proposed to Rule 6 of the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954.
It has been proposed that if the state government delays posting a state cadre officer to the Centre, “the officer shall stand relieved from cadre from the date as may be specified by the Central government.”
This will effectively change the present scenario, where officers have to get a no-objection clearance from the state government for Central deputation.
As per the proposal, the Centre will also decide the actual number of officers to be deputed to the Central government in consultation with the state, while the latter will provide names of such officers.
This contests the existing norms, according to which states have to depute the AIS (All India Services) officers, including the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, to the Central government offices and at any point, it cannot be more than 40 percent of the total cadre strength.
The third proposed amendment says that in case of any disagreement between the Centre and the state, the matter will be decided upon by the Centre and the state shall only be required to give effect as per Centre’s decision.
The fourth change proposed is that in a specific situation where services of cadre officers are required by the Central government in “public interest” the state shall give effect to its decisions within a specified time, The Hindu reported.
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