Dilip Cherian | Are IPS Officers Doing A Rethink Even About A Central Posting

Not long ago, a Central deputation was the IPS equivalent of a promotion without paperwork. A stint in the CBI, IB or a Central armed police force meant prestige, influence, and a ringside view of national power. Today, that attraction is visibly wearing thin.

Despite expanding sanctioned strength, hundreds of IPS posts at the Centre remain vacant. Sources have informed DKB that this isn’t a pipeline problem; it’s a motivation problem. Apparently, officers are available, but they’re just not interested.

One reason is brutally simple: the cost-benefit equation does not add up. Central deputation increasingly means hard field postings, limited autonomy and a bureaucratic ecosystem where accountability is high, but authority is diluted. Add uncertain career dividends, and the shine fades fast.

Then came policy overreach. The tenure rules that penalise officers for refusing deputation, including restrictions on future central or foreign postings, were meant to nudge compliance. Instead, they triggered resistance. Coercion rarely produces commitment; it usually produces caution.

There’s also a structural shift underway. With courts pushing for reduced IPS dominance in Central armed police forces, senior deputation opportunities are becoming increasingly scarce. Officers can read the writing on the wall. Why relocate careers for diminishing returns?

More quietly, this reflects a generational change in policing ambition. Many younger officers see greater impact and visibility in state postings than in Delhi’s layered hierarchies. The prestige economy has changed; Delhi is no longer the only power centre.

The problem is bigger than individual choice. If the central deputation is to regain credibility, it needs better incentives and clearer career value. Right now, Delhi isn’t being rejected. It’s being weighed. And found wanting.

The IPR ultimatum for the IAS

The government’s latest advisory to IAS officers on filing their Immovable Property Returns (IPRs) may look routine, but its message is anything but. Miss the January 31 deadline, the department of personnel and training warns, and the consequences could include disciplinary action and stalled promotions. In bureaucratic language, failure to file is now a “good and sufficient reason” for action, which is about as close to a red flag as officialdom gets.

To be clear, this is not a new obligation. IAS officers have always been required to declare their immovable assets annually. Transparency is part of the job description. What is new is the sharpened enforcement. For years, delayed filings were treated with a fair bit of indulgence — reminders issued, explanations accepted, deadlines stretched. That phase appears to be over.

Technology has removed most excuses. Since 2017, officers have been able to file IPRs through the SPARROW online portal. Returns can be submitted electronically or uploaded as scanned forms. For the 2025 calendar year, the system will automatically close after January 31, 2026. No extensions, no manual overrides — the software doesn’t negotiate.

The real pressure point, however, is the link between IPR compliance and career progression. Officers who fail to file on time will not be considered for appointment to the next level of the pay matrix. That’s a serious lever in a system where promotions matter more than almost anything else. Transparency, in effect, has been turned into a career gatekeeper.

Critics may argue that this approach is rigid and unforgiving. But that defence wears thin when applied to senior officers entrusted with complex administrations and public funds. Filing a once-a-year property return is hardly an unreasonable demand.

Love wins, but do other cadres lose?

On the face of it, marriage-based inter-cadre transfers appear to be a harmless, even humane reform. After all, the civil services shouldn’t force officers to choose between public service and private life. Fair enough. But when dozens of such transfers start clustering around a handful of “desirable” cadres, it’s time to pause and start asking uncomfortable questions.

The recent spurt of IAS and IPS officers gravitating towards Haryana and Punjab through marriage-based transfers isn’t just a coincidence. These cadres offer proximity to Delhi, higher visibility and better long-term career optics. Love may be blind, but officers are not.

The rules framed by the department of personnel and training (DopT) do permit such transfers, and with good reason. Dual-career marriages are now the norm, not the exception. The problem isn’t the rule; it’s the pattern. When too many officers land in the same cadres, other states quietly lose out on talent, diversity of experience, and institutional depth.

What also gets whispered about, though rarely on record, is fairness. Babus who spend years in tough or remote cadres often see colleagues leapfrog into cushier geographies through perfectly legal but selectively advantageous routes. The optics aren’t great, even if the paperwork is spotless.

None of this argues for scrapping marriage-based transfers. But it does make the case for tighter caps, greater transparency, and a periodic audit of how these transfers reshape the administrative ecosystem. Otherwise, we risk turning cadre management into a system where matrimonial alliances quietly double as career accelerators.