In a significant administrative reform, the Central Government has notified a revised Cadre Allocation Policy (CAP) for the three All India Services — the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFoS). The new policy will come into effect from the Civil Services Examination and Indian Forest Service Examination, 2026.
The revised framework, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) after consultations with state governments, replaces the zonal system introduced in 2017 with a new four-group structure. The move is aimed at reinforcing the “All India” character of the services, ensuring greater transparency, and addressing concerns over uneven vacancy distribution across states.
Under the new policy, all State and Joint Cadres have been arranged alphabetically and divided into four groups. Group I includes AGMUT, Andhra Pradesh, Assam-Meghalaya, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Group II comprises Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Group III consists of Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu, while Group IV includes Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The policy introduces a strict, time-bound mechanism for determination of vacancies. Vacancies will be calculated based on the cadre gap as on January 1 of the year following the examination. State governments must communicate their vacancy requisitions by January 31, failing which such requisitions will not be considered. The final vacancy position, including category-wise break-up, will be published on the websites of the concerned ministries before the declaration of final examination results.
The revised CAP also tightens the rules for allocation of “insider” candidates, defined as those opting for their home state cadre. Candidates will now be required to explicitly indicate their willingness to serve in their home state to be eligible for insider vacancies. Insider allocation will follow a merit-based cycle system to prevent clustering of top-ranked candidates in a single cadre. Any insider vacancy remaining unfilled after prescribed adjustments will be converted into an outsider vacancy for the same year, with no carry-forward permitted.
For outsider allocation, the policy introduces a two-stage process. Candidates with benchmark disabilities will be given priority immediately after insiders and may be accommodated through creation of additional vacancies if required. Allocation of other outsider candidates will follow a rotational cycle system across the four groups, with each cycle starting from a different group to ensure long-term equity among states.
The policy clarifies that vacancies earmarked for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be treated as part of the Unreserved category and reflected accordingly in the cadre roster. It also provides a mechanism to bridge reservation gaps by absorbing remaining reserved category candidates into unfilled unreserved vacancies based on merit.
As per the revised guidelines, allocation of IAS officers will be completed before the commencement of the professional training course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, while IPS and IFoS cadre allocations will be finalised immediately after appointment.
Officials said the new cadre allocation model is expected to streamline administrative processes, enhance inter-state exposure for young officers, and bring greater objectivity to a system that has long remained a sensitive issue among aspirants and state governments.
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