20 IAS and 30 IPS officers want UP tenure cut short

IAS and IPS officers from Uttar Pradesh are suddenly making a beeline for a deputation at the Centre.

With the Lok Sabha elections approaching, this queue is likely to get longer as officials apprehend more and more political postings and interference in administrative work with a view to boosting the ruling party’s electoral fortunes.

Already, 20 IAS officers are in line for a posting at the Centre. At least 100 UP cadre IAS officers are with the Centre and as of now there are no more vacancies. The story is no different with IPS officers, 30 of whom have applied for central deputation.

A senior IAS officer admitted that bureaucrats in the state were upset with the way Durga Shakti Nagpal was summarily suspended, allegedly at the behest of the sand mining mafia of western UP.

IPS officers point out the recent suspension of Muzzaffarnagar SSP Subhash Chandra Dube, who has the reputation of being an upright and efficient officer. They say Dube had taken over as the police chief only 10 days before riots broke out on September 7.

“He was doing a good job. His only fault was he refused to listen to political diktats from Lucknow,” a senior IPS officer said.

The UP government has the dubious distinction of ordering the maximum number of suspensions of IAS officers in the country.

Over the past 20 years, UP accounted for 105 of the 200 such suspensions.

Morever, officials say, transfers and postings are driven by political affiliations rather than merit. Uncertainty is another factor bothering “neutral” officers. The average tenure of a district magistrate or a district police chief in UP is just six months.

Even additional DG (law & order) Arun Kumar has put in his papers for a central deputation. He is known to be a dynamic and experienced officer who has handled prestigious cases, including the Aarushi Talwar murder and the Telgi scam, while on deputation with the CBI.

At one point, UP chief secretary Javed Usmani, perturbed by the power play of another IAS officer enjoying the Samajwadi Party’s patronage, is learnt to have asked the government to be relieved for central deputation.

It was only after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav intervened that he stayed back.

“No honest and upright officer wants to work in UP. The work culture here has been destroyed by political interference,” said a senior officer on deputation in Delhi for the past several years.

“Officers on deputation don’t want to return to UP.”

An appointments department official, however, pointed out that the state is short of 116 IAS officers. Of the total cadre strength of 592 IAS officers, 100 are on deputation and several others are on long leave — the effective strength being reduced to 476.

The UP IPS cadre strength is 489 and of these 106 can be sent for deputation. There are 50 deputation posts vacant for UP officers at the Centre but most of those who have applied are not being relieved because they were “close” to the Mayawati regime.

No work culture
No honest and upright officer wants to work in UP. The work culture here has been destroyed by political interference, a senior officer on deputation in Delhi for the past several years said.

Officers on deputation don’t want to return to UP