IAS lobby regains ground as two IPS officers sent back to policing

Why IPS officers’ ‘ghar wapsi’?

Postings of All India Service (AIS) officers fall within the discretion of the state government, particularly the Chief Minister

Haryana Police is facing a shortage of senior-level officers, necessitating the return of IPS officers to mainstream policing to strengthen law and order management

Principal Secretary-level posts are cadre positions traditionally earmarked for IAS officers

The IAS cadre has consistently opposed the posting of non-IAS officers to these designated cadre posts

After years of a quiet but persistent tug-of-war, the IAS lobby has reclaimed two cadre posts from its traditional rival, the Indian Police Service (IPS), with two senior IPS officers being sent back to mainstream policing.

The repatriation of IPS couple — Navdeep Singh Virk and Kala Ramachandran — both Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)-rank officers who were holding IAS cadre posts, is being seen as an attempt by the Nayab Singh Saini government to restore a perceived “balance of power” between the two elite All India Services (AIS).

Virk was serving as Principal Secretary, Sports, while Ramachandran held the post of Principal Secretary, Heritage and Tourism — both positions traditionally reserved for IAS officers.

The move is being viewed as a setback for those advocating that state governments have unfettered discretion in posting AIS officers to cadre posts. It has also reportedly caused unease among nearly half-a-dozen non-IAS officers currently occupying IAS-cadre positions, which have historically remained the preserve of the IAS.

These include IPS officer Pankaj Nain, Special Officer (Community Policing and Outreach) in the Chief Minister’s Office; IFS officer S Narayanan, Director General, Higher Education; IRS officer Vivek Aggarwal, Director General, Elementary Education; Vinay Kumar (IRPS), Joint Secretary, Haryana Public Service Commission and CEO, Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority; and Prashant Deshta, a Himachal Pradesh Civil Services officer serving as Secretary, Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission and Haryana State Law Commission.

The battle for supremacy between the IAS and IPS over control of IAS-designated cadre posts has a long history in Haryana, but it reached a turning point after Manohar Lal Khattar assumed office as Chief Minister in 2014. Soon after, Khattar appointed IPS officer Shatrujeet Kapur as chairman of Haryana’s power utilities — a post traditionally held by an IAS officer.

The decision triggered a storm within the influential IAS lobby, but Khattar stood his ground, asserting the government’s authority over postings. The resulting IAS-IPS cold war over cadre posts continued for several years.

The issue resurfaced prominently in 2021, when then Home Minister Anil Vij and Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan raised objections over the posting of non-cadre officers to IAS cadre posts. Vij had argued that IPS officers should not be relieved from policing duties and posted to IAS cadre positions without prior approval from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

The Centre subsequently sought the Haryana Government’s response after it emerged that nine non-IAS officers from the IPS, IFS and IRS had been appointed to IAS cadre posts by the state government.

At the time, Kala Ramachandran found herself at the centre of the controversy when her name was proposed for the post of Principal Secretary (Transport), vacated by IPS officer Shatrujeet Kapur. While the then Chief Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister DS Dhesi reportedly cleared the proposal without seeking Central approval, Vardhan is learnt to have objected strongly, citing IAS Cadre Rules.

Vardhan reportedly conveyed that if the appointment of non-cadre officers to IAS posts was to continue, the state must seek mandatory approval from the Centre or replace them with IAS officers.

The BJP government, however, has consistently maintained that postings of AIS officers fall within the “sole discretion” of the ruling dispensation, particularly the Chief Minister.

The latest reshuffle appears to signal a course correction, tilting the balance back in favour of the IAS — at least for now.