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New Delhi: It would be an intelligent guess that IAS officers from the Uttar Pradesh or Bihar cadres dominate senior positions in the Modi government in New Delhi. The first, after all, is India’s largest state and has a strong BJP government in place while the second has traditionally occupied prime positions in the central government.

Or maybe it’s civil servants from Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president and home minister Amit Shah.

Wrong on all counts.

It’s actually IAS officers from the Assam and Meghalaya cadre, an unlikely choice considering the North-Eastern states are not as much at the centre of national politics and governance, who are best-represented in the Modi government when it comes to top postings in New Delhi.

According to an RTI reply from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), of the 370 IAS officers of the joint secretary rank and above in the central government, 33 are from the Assam and Meghalaya cadre — the maximum for any of the 26 IAS cadres in the country.

The Assam and Meghalaya officers are closely followed by those of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, the largest state in the country, which by extension has the largest central deputation reserve (CDR).

The CDR determines the limit up to which officers can be sent for deputation to the government of India. At the level of joint secretary (JS), additional secretary (AS) and secretary, there are 27 IAS officers working at the Centre from the UP cadre.

The politics of deputation

Officers from UP and Bihar cadres have traditionally dominated the power corridors in the capital. Despite a relatively smaller CDR of 74 officers, there are 22 officers from Bihar above the JS rank.

“Because traditionally, these cadres have been there in majority at the Centre, it helps to empanel more officers from these cadres,” explained a UP cadre officer.

It also helps that both UP and Bihar have BJP governments in power, the officer added.

It is generally understood that state governments are more willing to relieve officers for central deputation if the union government is ruled by the same party or its allies. Even Madhya Pradesh, which was until recently ruled by the BJP government, has 25 officers posted in the ranks of JS and above at the Centre.

By contrast, West Bengal, which is an opposition-ruled state, has only nine of its officers posted in these ranks. All nine, however, hold ranks above the JS level.

According to an IAS officer from the state, this is probably because, in the last five years of the Modi government, very few IAS officers from the state have been empanelled by the central government. “Of course, this is also because the state government is not ready to send its officers to work at the Centre,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.

Despite being an Opposition-ruled government in Kerala, however, the state has one of the best representations at the Centre with 24 officers working at the JS, AS and secretary levels. This, officers say, is an exception to the general rule.

North-Eastern states and UTs well represented

Along with the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre too is well-represented at the Centre with 22 officers posted in the senior ranks.

Despite their small CDRs and sizes, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim also have 10, 11, eight and four officers of JS and above rank in the union government respectively.

This, officers say, is because bureaucrats in the North-East are always more willing to come to the Centre of deputation because they find these postings more attractive.

“It is a very unfortunate state of affairs,” said H.S. Brahma, a retired IAS officer who belongs to Assam. “Basically nobody wants to work in the North-East… That is why here, we refer to the bureaucracy as ‘suitcase bureaucracy’.”

“People go to their cadres with one suitcase and then come to Delhi at any given opportunity.”

All the states in the North-East are seen as “punishment” or “condemned” postings, he added. As a result, there are massive vacancies in these states. “Each secretary would have half a dozen postings here because everyone is in Delhi.”

Serving officers agreed with Brahma. “These are either conflict-prone areas or places with very less development, so their cadre officers do not want to stay there,” explained an IAS officer. “Especially, when one has a family, their children have to go to school, etc. Officers prefer to come to Delhi and work.”

Also read: IAS, IPS, IFS cadres to be allotted on basis of foundation course along with UPSC marks

‘In contrast with developed states’

This, the officer, explained is in contrast with states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka where development levels are typically high and officers prefer to stay there.

Despite being large states, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have only 15, 11 and 15 officers each working in these ranks.

While it is generally believed that Gujarat cadre IAS officers have been deputed in large numbers to the Centre ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, their numbers still remain low. However, despite the low numbers, these officers are posted in some crucial ministries such as the PMO, finance ministry and home ministry among others.

IFS officers from Gujarat deputed in large numbers

While the IAS officers from Gujarat may occupy a few, if crucial posts in the central government, Gujarat-cadre officers from the Indian Forest Service (IFS) are the highest represented in the Centre in their service.

Seven Gujarat cadre IFS officers have been posted as joint secretaries in different ministries at the Centre as of 1 July 2019. This is a significantly high number for a service that still remains somewhat underrepresented in central postings.

In all, there are 54 IFS officers posted in the Centre at posts of JS and above. Other than Gujarat, officers from the AGMUT, UP and Manipur/Tripura cadres are well represented.

IPS officers least represented among All India Services

While the Indian Police Service (IPS) is the largest All India Service (AIS) after the IAS, its representation in the Centre remains rather low with just 25 officers from the service posted in JS and above ranks.

Of these 25, only one officer has a secretary-equivalent rank in the home ministry, while all the other 24 have JS or JS-equivalent ranks.

Among the few IPS officers in the Centre, four of them are from the Bihar cadre – the highest for any state.

Also read: No more J&K cadre in IAS & IPS if bifurcation goes through, officers will report to Centre

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