IAS association condemns 'unwarranted and disrespectful' treatment of officers in Delhi

The Indian Administrative and Civil Service (Central) Association on Tuesday expressed its strong condemnation of what it termed the 'unwarranted and disrespectful treatment' of senior officers working with the Delhi government, calling for a conducive atmosphere to allow them to function in a 'free, impartial and dignified' manner.

"The Indian Administrative and Civil Service (Central) Association had a meeting on May 25 to three important issues which are now burning issues. One of them is the unwarranted and undignified treatment meted out to some IAS officers and other service officers working in the Delhi government. Secondly, the violation of the IAS cadres rules (1954) and thirdly regarding the Constitution and operationalization of the Civil Services board. It was a good discussion and deliberation on all these issues by a large number of members of the association and the association resolved to strongly condemn the recent cases of unwarranted and disrespectful treatment meted out to some IAS officers working in the Delhi government. It resolved to express its anguish over the character assassination of IAS officers in the media using official machinery without any substantive ground, thereby tarnishing their reputation.," Sanjay R Bhoos Reddy of the association told mediapersons.

"The unwarranted treatment meted out to civil servants is highly demotivating and demoralising the entire rank and file of the civil services and is clearly unacceptable. The association has therefore resolved the President of India, who is the appointing authority for all IAS officers, and other all-India Service officers; the Prime Minister of India; the Home Minister of India; the Chief Ministers of all states and administrators of all Union Territories to create a conducive atmosphere, wherein all government officers can function in a free, impartial and dignified manner and not become victims of political crossfire," he added.

Reddy further criticised the posting of non-cadre officers to cadre posts, adding that the association would be forced to take legal recourse if such attempts by certain states were not stopped.

"The association deliberated on recent trends in some states of posting non-cadre officers to cadre posts which has to be criticised as it is in clear violation of IAS cadre rule 1954. Apart from High Courts of Punjab and Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court has ruled that IAS cadre rules are statutory rules and have force of law and state governments are bound to follow the cadre rules 1954," he said.

"In this regard, the central association has received representation from its constituents in states of Delhi, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh that these rules are being blatantly violated thereby causing concern and frustration in IAS officers of these states. If such attempts are not stopped with immediate effect, then the association would be left with no option but to take legal recourse: to approach the Government of India and also to approach judicial forums if required," he added.

This comes after the Delhi IAS Officers' Association had last week unanimously passed a resolution, urging Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to create a conducive atmosphere where officers could function in a free and impartial manner.