Times
of India: Hyderabad: Wednesday, August 27, 2014.
Shocked
at the way cadre allocation process was held this week by the department of
personnel and training (DoPT), several IAS officers are now planning to use
what is known as a ?swapping option' to stay back in Hyderabad.
Swapping
is possible when two officers, belonging to different states, request the DoPT
to change their cadre on personal grounds. But in all cases of swapping, a
no-objection certificate (NOC) from both state governments is necessary.
After
the DoPT released the list of officers provisionally allotted to the two states
on August 22, there has been a flood of visitors to the offices of the AP and
Telangana chief secretaries. Officers who met IYR Krishna Rao and Rajiv Sharma
enquired about the NOC if they can get a candidate willing to swap their cadre.
Some
officers have already managed to finding swapping partners. Kona Sridhar, who
was allotted to AP, has swapped his cadre with M Dana Kishore for Telangana.
While Dana Kishore belongs to the 1996 batch, Sridhar is from the 2003 batch of
IAS.
Under
the DoPT rules, officers are even allowed to swap with retired officers whose
name is in the list, as the cut-off date for IAS officers was originally June
1, 2014. For instance, Mudavat Naik, who belongs to the 2005 batch, was
allotted to AP, but has changed his cadre to Telangana by swapping with J
Ramanand of 1979 batch. Ramanand had retired on July 31, 2014.
Swapping
within the same batch was allowed by the DoPT in the provisional allotment
also, resulting in the change of cadre for several officers. Rajeswar Tiwari,
who was allotted to AP, swapped with his batchmate Satish Chandra, who was
allotted Telangana in the roster.
"There
are no clear guidelines on swapping and nobody has been informed about the
existence of such a facility. Those who were privy to the information have
already prepared the NOC and sent it to the DoPT. The information about cadre
allocation was leaked to some," alleged some officers, who have now
decided to file an RTI application to DoPT and make the minutes of the Pratyush
Sinha committee meeting public.
Officers
are seeking to know how the draw of lots executed on August 16 was completely
changed in the provisional allotment on August 22. "After the draw of
lots, those who attended the meeting went on record saying that it went in
favour of Telangana and all three senior-most officers in IAS, IPS and IFS
would go to Telangana. But in the end, all of them were allotted to AP,"
pointed out a senior official.
With
many officers now rushing to the AP chief secretary with requests of swapping,
sources said he has assured them not to take a hasty decision and promised a
good future in the new state. But, officers are not convinced and are still
looking to get an NOC for swapping.
Bureaucratic
symbiosis
· Under
the DoPT rules, two officers, belonging to different states, can request for a
cadre swap on personal grounds
· In
all cases of swapping, a no-objection certificate (NOC) from both state
governments is necessary.
· Officers
are even allowed to swap with retired officers whose name is in the list of
allottees as the cut-off date for IAS officers was originally June 1, 2014
· Officers
are now rushing to the chief secretaries of both states with enquiries about
this option as many of them want to stay back in Hyderabad
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