Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed service rules to allow married IAS and IPS officers to get the same cadre state.
At present, there is no provision in the existing guidelines for cases where officers from the all-India services – the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) – can opt for the cadre of their spouse as their home cadre.
The decision to amend the rules is triggered by a unique case of 2011-batch IAS officer P Parthiban, who is married to his batch mate and Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer Nisha, who hails from Delhi.
Parthiban is a native of Tamil Nadu and has been allocated the Union Territories cadre, that includes Delhi.
The couple had sought the same cadre citing their marriage, as civil services rules allow it. However, the rules bar any member of the service from working in his or her home state.
This matter was put up before a committee, which had then recommended change in guidelines. these new norms have now been approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Modi.
The ACC has said that in cases where either of the officers cannot opt for the cadre of the spouse as its their home cadre, the officers may choose the immediate next cadre opted by them in the detailed application form submitted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
A candidate has to give his or her order of preference of a desired cadre in the detailed application form during the civil services examination process.
(With inputs from PTI)
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