By Dilip Cherian
An IAS officer quitting after 13 years is unusual. An officer as publicly visible as Divya Mittal doing so, months before Uttar Pradesh’s next election cycle, was bound to trigger speculation.
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Mittal says the decision followed reflection on family, priorities and other interests, including writing, teaching and social service. But the internet has its own theory.
Speculation is rife that she could eventually enter electoral politics from Mirzapur or Deoria, where she built a strong public profile as district magistrate. Her reported run-ins with local political leaders during her Mirzapur tenure have only added fuel.
Then came the political seasoning: claims of a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, suggestions of a possible 2027 election connection, and counter-allegations from the BJP. None of this establishes a political move, and Mittal has denied having any such plan, for now.
Then, her remark that she would speak “when the time comes” is intriguing. While hardly a political declaration, it is precisely the sort of line that keeps Uttar Pradesh’s rumour mills humming.
The timing has also raised questions about whether her shift from a field posting to the Revenue Department influenced her decision.
Resignation: yes. Politics: speculation.
But in Uttar Pradesh, an IAS officer with a public profile does not exactly disappear from public life by resigning.
NTA’s cleanup isn’t enough
The Centre has moved to strengthen the National Testing Agency (NTA), with two more appointments announced a day after three officers were appointed to the agency. With the latest appointments, a total of five officers have been brought into the NTA within 24 hours.
But the uncomfortable truth is that it took repeated examination controversies to trigger this clean-up.
Sources informed DKB that 47 officials have been terminated, around 600 experts removed from its panels, and recruitment begun for senior positions in information security, test operations and forensics. Its offices are being shifted to more secure premises with CISF protection, while a four-tier scrutiny system for question papers is being planned.
These are substantial measures.
They are also an admission that the machinery handling some of India’s most consequential examinations was not secure enough.
But accountability cannot end with a personnel purge. If an examination system fails, responsibility should be traceable through the chain, from the appointment and vetting of experts to paper-setting, technology vendors, storage, access and transmission. The people signing off at each critical stage should be identifiable, and failures should have consequences beyond another internal review.
Removing 600 experts may clean up the panel; it does not explain how the earlier system was allowed to become so exposed.
The proposed changes, including shorter expert tenures, tighter compartmentalisation, and stronger information-security capabilities, are sensible. But four layers of scrutiny are not a substitute for clear ownership.
In fact, adding more people to a process can make accountability harder unless every handover is recorded and auditable.
NTA’s problem is therefore institutional, not merely personnel-related. The agency needs to build a system in which responsibility is assigned before something goes wrong, not reconstructed after it does.
Cadres hold the cards
The repatriation of two IAS officers from the Centre is a reminder that, in India’s babudom, deputation is never quite a one-way street. Officers may serve Delhi, but their parent cadres do not necessarily forget what they have on loan.
Ashish Chatterjee, a 1999-batch Tamil Nadu officer, was brought back from the Ministry of Steel at the state government’s request.
The purpose became evident almost immediately. He has now taken charge as Principal Secretary and Managing Director of Chennai Metro Rail Limited. With Phase II involving a massive expansion of the network, this is hardly a parking assignment. Chatterjee brings experience in urban governance, infrastructure, finance and the energy sector, a fairly useful combination when the metro has to negotiate money, land, construction and politics, often in that order.
The message from Chennai is therefore fairly straightforward: when a state wants one of its senior officers back, the Centre can accommodate the request. And Tamil Nadu clearly had a use for Chatterjee beyond another round of secretariat file work.
Sanjay Kumar’s case is different.
The 2008-batch AGMUT officer has been prematurely repatriated from the Election Commission on personal grounds, following an ECI proposal. His deputation was due to continue until January 2027. There is no need to manufacture intrigue around that decision. But his departure does leave a senior position vacant in the ECI at a time when the election machinery is hardly short of work.
Together, the two moves illustrate an enduring truth about the IAS: while the Centre may control deputation, cadres retain a powerful claim on their talent. And when that talent is needed badly enough, the loan period can end rather abruptly.
