Haryana shifts 120 IAS officers prematurely in 2025, rules mandate min 2-yr term

At least 120 Haryana bureaucrats, including senior IAS officers in the rank of Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, were transferred prematurely in 2025, disregarding the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) guidelines that mandate a minimum two-year tenure for any posting.

At least one-fourth of these officers were transferred multiple times, leaving them with tenure of only a few months in each assignment.

The office of the Haryana Chief Secretary, in a communication to the Secretary, DoPT, New Delhi, informed that the state’s Civil Services Board (CSB) had ordered these “premature transfers”, the maximum 23 on June 12. The CSB is headed by the Chief Secretary.

The All-India Services (Cadre) Rules of the DoPT, framed in 2014, specified a minimum two-year tenure for an IAS officer on any posting to ensure “stability and insulate the bureaucracy from political interference”.

Among the officers transferred on June 12 were senior bureaucrats such as Raja Sekhar Vundru (1990 cadre), Vijayendra Kumar and D Suresh (1995), Pankaj Agrawal (2000), Amneet P Kumar (2001), CG Rajini Kaanthan and Sanjeev Verma (2004), Dushyanta Kumar Behera (2007) and Anshaj Singh (2008). The other officers included Yash Garg, Jaibir Singh Arya, Brahmjeet Singh Rangi, Sahil Gupta, Anupama Anjali, Lakshit Sareen and Sonu Bhatt.

Sanjeev Verma (2004), Ashok Kumar Meena (2006), Ravi Prakash Gupta (2007), Pankaj, Yash Garg and Mani Ram Sharma (2009), Aditya Dahiya, Pardeep Kumar, Anma Tasneem, Parth Gupta, Sangeeta Tetarwal, Anish Yadav and Pardeep Singh were among the 18 officers transferred on November 30.

As many as 13 officers were shifted on May 7. Among them were Sekhar Vidyarthi (2004), Amna Tasneem, Rahul Hooda, Sachin Gupta, Ayush Sinha, Akhil Pilani, Anand Kumar Sharma, Saloni Sharma, Balpreet Singh, Yash Jaluka, Hitesh Kumar Meena and Renu Sogan.

Twelve officers were transferred on February 4, among them Rajeev Ranjan (1998), Anmeet P Kumar (2001), Ashima Brar, Phool Chand Meena and CG Rajini Kaanthan (2004), KM Pandurang (2007), Anshaj Singh (2008), Saloni Sharma, Anupama Anjali and Ayush Sinha.

The CSB recommended 11 transfers, including that of TL Satyaprakash, Vikas Gupta, Phool Chand Meena, Mandeep Kaur, Munish Sharma and Monika Gupta, on September 6. Shyamal Misra (1996), A Mona Sreenivas, Ashok Kumar Garg, Dhirendra Khadgata, Dharmender Singh, Pradeep Dahiya and Swapnil Ravindra Patil were shifted prematurely on October 27.

Officials said while recommending premature transfers, the CSB must record in writing the reasons for the shifting. An officer can be transferred before the two-year minimum period under specific circumstances, including promotion, retirement, inter-state deputation and training exceeding two months, the officials added.

Musical chairs at top of bureaucracy

Haryana shifted a maximum of 23 officers on June 12, followed by 18 on November 30

13 were shifted on May 7, 12 on Feb 4 and 11 on Sept 6

Rules specify a minimum 2-year tenure to ensure ‘stability and insulate bureaucracy against political interference’