Around a dozen states oppose Centre’s move on deputation of IAS, IPS, IFoS officers

Except for Karnataka and NDA-ruled Meghalaya, nine other states that have responded in the negative to the DoPT

Eleven states, including BJP-ruled Karnataka, have expressed their opposition to the Centre’s latest move to amend the service rules to give itself unbridled powers to bring civil servants on deputation so far while seven are in favour of the proposed changes.

The rest of the states have not responded by the deadline of January 25 and a reminder is likely to be sent as early as Thursday, sources in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said on Wednesday.

Besides Karnataka and NDA-ruled Meghalaya, nine Opposition-ruled states, that have also responded in the negative to the DoPT or wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the proposal to allow the Centre to call an IAS, IPS or IFoS officer on central deputation without state’s consent among others, are non-NDA ruled states.

These states are BJD-ruled Odisha, Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal, Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, DK-ruled Tamil Nadu, Left-ruled Kerala, TRS-ruled Telangana and JMM-ruled Jharkhand, sources said.

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Though Maha Vikas Agadhi-ruled Maharashtra has expressed its opposition, it was not immediately clear whether it has officially responded to the letter from the Centre.

It is also not clear whether Karnataka will change its stand as the Centre will be extending the window to submit recommendations, as several states are yet to provide their views.

The seven states that are in support of the proposal are BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Bihar initially had reservations about the proposal but it has changed its mind though it has not been clear whether it has officially communicated its stand.

Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), Hemant Soren (Jharkhand) and K Chandrasekhar Rao (Telangana) have written to the Prime Minister, saying that the proposal was “draconian” and damages “cooperative federalism.

The Centre argues that there are an acute shortage of All India Service (AIS) officers to meet its requirement, as the states are “not sponsoring an adequate number of officers” for central deputation. Official data showed the number of IAS officers on central deputation at the Joint Secretary level has come down from 309 in 2011 to 223 now. At the Deputy Secretary level, it has dropped from 117 to 114 during the same period.

The proposed amendment gives more powers to the Centre to enforce the deputation. If a state delays the posting and does not give effect to the Centre’s decision within the time specified, the officer will stand relieved from the cadre from the date and time as specified by the Centre. At present, the officer should get a NOC from the state.

Amendments also provide for the Centre to decide on the number of officers to be deputed from a particular state in consultation with the state and the latter should provide the list. If there is a dispute, the Centre’s decision is final and the state will have to enforce it within a stipulated time frame. The Centre could also call an officer on deputation in the public interest and the state should implement the decision within the specified time.

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