Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha has joined several other non-BJP ruled states in the country in opposing the Centre’s move to amend the IAS (Cadre) Rules and demanded an increase of strength of IAS officers, a top official said Tuesday.
The BJD has earlier lent support to the BJP-led government at the Centre on various issues, especially those that are not related to Odisha. Now, the chief secretary of the state has written to the central government opposing the proposed amendments to the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, on Monday.
“Odisha has opposed the Centre’s proposal of amending the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954. We have also suggested that the Centre increase the cadre strength so that Centre and state will have sufficient IAS officers,” a top official told PTI on Tuesday.
The letter, however, was not shared with the media.
Governments of non-BJP ruled states such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan have also raised their voices against the amendments proposed by the Centre, that would enable it to post IAS officers on central deputation, bypassing reservations of state governments.
In its letter, the Odisha government said the proposals, if implemented, will affect the administration of states and have an impact on the implementation of various developmental projects, according to the official.
It has also urged the Centre to fill up vacancies in the administrative services.
The state government had informed the assembly in December last year that there were 248 IAS posts and 195 IPS posts in the state. Of them, 54 IAS officers are entitled to Central deputation and 28 have joined it. Similarly, out of 41 approved IPS posts, 24 officers have been posted on central deputation.
Leaders of the BJD, Congress and the BJP also spoke on the issue.
Taking to Twitter, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik said, “The latest proposal by GoI to amend All India Service Rules, besides upsetting the existing balance in control that Centre & States exercised over these cadres, is also contrary to the current definition of Deputation. It requires willingness of the officer too; can’t be forced.”
Senior Congress lawmaker S S Saluja alleged that the proposals, if implemented, will hamper development and said, “All, irrespective of their political affiliations, should oppose the move.”
Odisha BJP general secretary P Harichandan, however, supported the Centre’s proposals saying if the Union government faces a shortage of officers, this will also affect the development of the country.
PTI
