oppn parties The Row Over Officers: Centre Must Not Take Unilateral Decisions

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  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
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  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
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  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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The Row Over Officers: Centre Must Not Take Unilateral Decisions

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-01-26 15:19:21

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The latest row between the Centre and the states over the changes in the IAS/IPS cadre rules could have been avoided if the Centre had explained its problems to the states and had asked for their opinion on overcoming them in a spirit of federalism. But it went ahead to draft the changes unilaterally and sent them to the states, triggering an angry response from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and dissenting notes from some other states, including those under BJP rule.

It is obvious that when the existing rules call for consultation and cooperation between the Centre, the states and the officers concerned when any officer from the state pool is deputed for Central duty, any change (making it mandatory for states to make a certain number of officers available to the Centre) that makes the Centre the sole decision-maker is likely to be opposed.

There is no denying that there is a problem. The Centre needs good officers to run the government. But so do the states. The Centre is facing a shortage of officers as reports suggest that the number of officers in central deputation reserve has gone down from 309 in 2011 to just 223 now. The percentage of mid-level IAS officers posted at the Centre has also come down from 19% in 2014 to 10% now. The Centre cannot be expected to function efficiently with shortage of officers. But neither can the states if more officers are deputed to the Centre than the states can optimally release.

A solution needs to be found urgently and it will not be found by the Centre unilaterally imposing itself on the states and snatching officers. A short term solution must be found through consultation between the Centre and the states. It needs to be identified if some states have more officers than they need. In the long term, more officers need to be recruited through the UPSC Civil Services examinations to ensure equitable distribution of officers between the Centre and the states. The need for having an exclusive pool of Central cadre officers can also be examined. 

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