With the last date for the All India Service officers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana seeking to go to the other State cadre under the grounds permitted by the Department of Personnel and Training ending on Saturday, it is for the Centre now to take a decision on their representations.
The DoPT on December 26 published the provisional list of AIS officers to both the States -- 128 IAS officers, 92 IPS and 51 IFS officers were allotted to Telangana and 166 IAS officers, 119 IPS and 76 IFS officers to Andhra Pradesh.
As per the provisional list, 51 IAS officers serving in Andhra Pradesh were moved to Telangana and 31 officers from Telangana to AP. However, about 30 to 40 officers from both the States submitted representations for swapping within the same batch, category and grade pay, under marriage grounds and the category of those close to retirement and other grounds too. These representations to the GoI through the respective Chief Secretaries have been sent, sources said.
Both the States also relieved officers allotted to the other State but retained a few officers handling key responsibilities. They in a joint representation sought the Centre’s permission to retain these officers till final allocation.
The Pratyush Sinha committee planned to meet on January 16 to consider all representations but it being a holiday for Andhra Pradesh, the meeting to be attended by Chief Secretaries of both States is now scheduled for January 19 to take a decision and send it to the approval of the Prime Minister. The final list of allocation to both the States will be published by February 10, the sources said.
Deputation route
The sources, however, said that not all the officers who sought change may get the State cadre of their choice as the DoPT would do the swapping by matching seniority and grade pay and the guidelines laid down for swapping. Few officers may then opt for deputation route with NoC from respective State and the consent of the Centre for a maximum period of five years. Other officers whose representations did not fall within the purview of leeway given by the DoPT may move court. Some officers already went to Central Administrative Tribunal or court questioning the guidelines.
However, over 90 per cent of officers have no grievances with the provisional list and thus the number game of AIS officers in both the States will stabilise further. After the provisional list of allocation, administrative constraints in both the States eased to a large extent and AP even carried out a major reshuffle of bureaucrats.
