Andhra Pradesh Govt Welcomes Centre's Proposed Changes to IAS Rules With a Rider

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy welcomed the initiative but expressed his reservation over certain sub-clauses.

CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy welcomes proposed changes but expresses reservation over certain sub-clauses.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Andhra Pradesh (AP) government has welcomed the Centre's initiative and the proposed changes in the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954 but with a clause.

The condition is that the procedure of operation should be reconsidered, as in, the existing process of requiring the state no-objection certificate (NOC) to officers going on central deputation must be retained.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Friday, 28 January, wrote a letter, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, welcoming the initiative but expressing his reservation over certain sub-clauses, comprising (b) and (c) to Rule 6 (1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954.

"With the proposed amendment as mentioned in point (b) and (c), concurrence of the state government or the officer may not be necessary and the officers chosen by the Central government may have to be relieved within the stipulated period, irrespective of the willingness of the state government."

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Why Is Issuing an NOC Important to the State?

He pointed out that the IAS officers were an important part of the state government and cited "practical issues" that he had with the new changes. One of them was about the Centre's authority over the state government, pertaining to the IAS officer's deputation.

CM Reddy discerned that the new amendment might apprehend the flexibility of the state in planning the officers' deputation, and added that untimely changes made in the leadership of any state department could "derail some critical projects" as well as affect the personal lives of the officers.

According to PTI, he mentioned that such deputation orders issued without the willingness of the concerned officer "will affect the personal lives, considering their families, children and their education. He or she may not be able to deliver the best in such circumstances."

The chief minister also assured that the AP government would take every necessary measure in order to ensure the required number of officers at various levels were sponsored to the central government.

"Requirement of no-objection certificate (NOC) gave some flexibility to the state government to carefully plan deputation of officers to the Central government, without adversely affecting the state's interests, while duly meeting the requirements of Central deputation reserve."

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh

While he appreciated the intent behind the new amendments proposed by the Centre to the IAS (Cadre) Rules, he duly requested the central government to "reconsider the operational procedure in view of the issues put forth above."

Earlier, the chief ministers of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal also wrote to PM Modi opposing the Centre's proposed changes to the assignment rules of IAS officers.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)