Govt nod must for bureaucrats before accepting gifts over Rs 5,000

IAS and IPS officers will now need to take prior permission from the central government before accepting gifts worth more than Rs 5,000.

According to the recently amended all India services rules, they also need to inform government if they accept gifts of over Rs 25,000 from their relatives or friends.

No member of the service shall accept any gift without the sanction of the government if the value of gift exceeds Rs 5,000, the new rules say.

A member of the service may accept gifts from his near relatives or from his personal friends having no official dealings with them, on occasions such as wedding, anniversaries, funerals and religious functions when the making of gifts is in conformity with the prevailing religious and social practice, but he shall make a report to the government if the value of such gift exceeds Rs 25,000, they say.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has notified All India Services (Conduct) Amendment Rules, 2015. The Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) are three all India services.

"The rules have been amended and ministries concerned have been told to bring them into the notice of all IAS, IPS and IFoS officers," a DoPT official said.

The monetary limits have been revised through the new rules. Earlier, IAS, IPS and IFoS officers were needed to take prior government sanction before accepting gifts if their value exceed Rs 1,000, he said.

"As per the old rules, they were to inform government after receiving gifts from near relatives, friends, or on occasions such as wedding, anniversaries, funerals and religious functions if their value exceed Rs 5,000," the official said.

There are about 4,802 IAS, 3,798 IPS, 2,668 IFoS officers working across the country against their sanctioned strength of 6,375, 4,728 and 3,131, respectively, according to a latest government data.