Central deputation
Topic: Civil Services: Role, Accountability and Reforms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Central deputation means posting an All India Service officer from their state cadre to work for the Union government for a period. It comes under Rule 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954. The state's agreement is needed. If the state and the Centre disagree, the Centre's view prevails. This rule is at the heart of Centre-state fights over the All India Services, which are under dual control.
Example
A draft amendment in 2022 would have forced states to release officers to the Centre within a time limit. West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and other states opposed it. The fight had sharpened after the Centre recalled West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay in 2021.
Don't confuse with
- Central Staffing Scheme: this scheme decides how officers from the All India Services and Group A services fill posts at the Centre, at Deputy Secretary level and above, for fixed terms. Central deputation is the state-to-Centre release of an AIS officer under the cadre rules.
Related concepts
- All India Services
- Indian Administrative Service
- Indian Police Service
- Indian Forest Service
- Central Staffing Scheme