Struggling with lack of 'dedicated' bureaucracy, AP demands separate cadre

Struggling with the lack of a 'dedicated' bureaucracy, the government of the border state of Arunachal Pradesh once again raised the demand for a separate cadre for itself.

While governor of the state Brig (retired) BD Mishra on Sunday met Minister of State for the Prime Minister's Office, Jitendra Singh and demanded a separate cadre for the state. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu also backed the governor.

"A separate cadre is the need of the hour for a sustainable and seamless development of our State, which I had been pressing for all along. I wholeheartedly thank our hon'ble governor for his proactiveness in taking up the issue with the appropriate office in GOI," Khandu said on Twitter.

The state executive of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had, on October 1, passed a resolution for a separate cadre. This is the second time the demand has been vetted by the state.

Earlier, all party MLAs had passed the demand for a separate cadre in a Legislative Assembly session.

Being a part of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre management, Arunachal gets officers from the collective pool.

Interestingly, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir will also take officers from the same pool since they have been designated as Union Territories.

According to those in the Andhra Pradesh government, there isn't any dedicated bureaucracy.

"All development projects suffer because of the temporary service mindset officers come in with," a source said.

"Arunachal is a unique case among the AGMUT cadre," said a government official when asked about what if other states also started demanding a separate cadre for themselves.

"All the other states/UTs are small in land area. Arunachal is the largest state in North-East and most diverse in terms of the number of tribes. By the time an officer understands the ground situation, their transfer orders come. Also, we have sensitive borders, important government schemes take a lot of time to be implemented," the official said.