The Centre has decided to amend its existing cadre allocation policy for all India Services, to ensure that an even mix of officers are placed across the country from all corners.
The thought behind amending the policy, DNA has learnt, was fueled by the concern that all India Services such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) are losing their "national character" and turning regional in nature.
The problem arises as most candidates qualifying the civil services examinations prefer their own or neighbouring states when choosing their cadres, thus remaining confined to a specific region during their entire career span.
Under the new policy, states will be divided into five zones and a candidate will first have to select a preferred cadre in each zone.
After indicating one preferred cadre, the candidate will have to follow the same process and indicate their second preferred cadre in each zone.
Sources said the revised policy will change this as a candidate now will have to choose a cadre from every region of the country. "Depending on the available vacancies in each state, a candidate from south India may be allocated a cadre in north or east India, and vice versa, instances of which were fewer earlier," another official said.
The new policy will also offer candidates under the "physically-disabled quota" an additional option to indicate their state preference, apart from their home state.
Another crucial reason that led to the decision was dearth of officers in "less preferred states" such as northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir. Sources across states said they are hopeful the new policy will tackle this problem.
WHY THE NEW POLICY
- To retain national character of AIS, cadre allocation policy will be amended.
- “Physically-disabled” candidates will get option to indicate their state of preference apart from home state.
