The Bureau Autocrats

• Notification ensures that IAS officers get promoted nearly eight years ahead of their IPS, IFOS counterparts
  
• Only IAS officers will be eligible for key posts under the central staffing scheme at the Centre as well as states
  
• Officers from other services with domain expertise in key areas like internal security, policing, environment and forests will be ignored in favour of IAS officers
  
• No fast-track promotions? Loss in rank, money, power.

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Home minister Shivraj Patil with 2007 IPS batch

The seemingly innocuous notification has IPS officers up in arms because it puts them almost eight years behind their IAS counterparts in terms of rank, seniority, pay and perks. The initial fracas over the notification was dismissed as usual inter-services rivalry, but there is clearly more to it than meets the eye. It's the first time in independent India that such deep battlelines have been drawn over issues fundamental to the character of the All India Services. The skewing of the structure of promotions has direct implications on two fronts:

• Senior police and forest service officers will frequently have to report to IAS officers up to eight years their junior.
  
• Their chances of making it to coveted central bureaucratic postings also stand considerably diminished.

• Speeded up promotions for IAS-wallahs would make for more joint secretaries at any given point and hence less vacancies in central ministries for non-IAS officers. IPS and IFOs officers are considered for central postings only after being empanelled as joint secretaries. But by the time this happens, vacancies could dry up as IAS officers far junior to them will be filling those posts.
  
• Single-service dominance will affect the quality of governance. It will prevent officers with expertise in relevant sectors from serving at the Centre. For instance, home ministry posts dealing with police modernisation or internal security will be better served by IPS officers.
  
• The prospect of stagnation will filter down IPS and IFOs cadres as they will have to try and grow within their service while the IAS hogs top and middle-rung positions in the Centre and states.
  
• If the Pay Commission recommendations are implemented, an IPS officer after 36 years of service will lose at least Rs 1.61 crore in terms of salary.