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Kerala cadre IPS Yogesh Gupta empanelled for DG rank at Centre

By
LO Bureau
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Senior IPS officer Yogesh Gupta (IPS:1993:KL) has been empanelled for Director General equivalent posts at the Centre. The approval has been given by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday (March 17, 2026). Currently, he is serving as DGP, Fire and Rescue Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards, Kerala.

Earlier, many officers of his batch had moved ahead but his name was not included. In June 2024, 18 officers of the 1993 batch were empanelled for DG rank. Six more officers were cleared in July 2025. Gupta was not part of either list.

He returned to the Kerala cadre in 2021 after serving as Special Director in the Enforcement Directorate. After coming back, he was shifted frequently within the state.

In 2025, he approached the Central Administrative Tribunal over the issue of vigilance clearance for central deputation. The Kerala government had not given the clearance for more than two months despite reminders from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Kochi Bench of the tribunal on September 30, 2025, directed the state to issue the clearance within five days. It noted that repeated letters from the Centre had not been acted upon.

With this empanelment, Gupta is now eligible for DG-level posts at the Centre.

Pramod Kumar Meherda gets extension as Additional Secretary in Department of Agriculture

By
LO Bureau
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Pramod Kumar Meherda IAS

IAS officer Pramod Kumar Meherda (IAS:1997:OR) has been given a two-year extension in his central deputation as Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

An order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Monday (March 16, 2026) said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension. His tenure has been extended beyond September 2, 2026. He will now continue till September 2, 2028 or until further orders.

Meherda has been working as Additional Secretary in the department since November 2022.

Before this, he was Managing Director (MD) of the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in the same department. He was appointed to that post at the Joint Secretary level in August 2021 for five years.

Later, after being empanelled for Additional Secretary level posts, he was appointed as Additional Secretary in the department.

NDRF DG Piyush Anand tenure extended by one year

By
LO Bureau
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Piyush Anand IPS Officer

Senior IPS officer Piyush Anand (IPS:1991:UP) has been given a one-year extension as Director General of the National Disaster Response Force.

An order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Monday (March 16, 2026) said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs. His tenure has been extended beyond March 30, 2026 for one year or until further orders.

Anand is a 1991-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. Since April 1, 2024, he has held the position of Director General of the NDRF. He took charge after the retirement of Atul Karwal (IPS:1988:GJ), who demitted office on March 31, 2024.

His two-year term was to end on March 30, 2026. With this extension, he will now continue in the post till March 2027, unless the government decides otherwise.

EC orders major IPS reshuffle in West Bengal ahead of polls

By
LO Bureau
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Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India Tuesday (March 17, 2026) ordered the transfer and posting of 19 IPS officers in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections. This was done after a review of poll preparedness in the state.

Among senior-level postings, Dr Rajesh Kumar Singh (IPS:1997:WB) has been posted as ADG & IGP, South Bengal Region. K Jayaraman (IPS:1997:WB) has been posted as ADG & IGP, North Bengal Region.

Dr Pranav Kumar (IPS:2003:WB) has been appointed Commissioner of Police, Asansol-Durgapur. Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi (IPS:2005:WB) will serve as Commissioner of Police, Howrah. Amit Kumar Singh (IPS:2009:WB) has been posted as Commissioner of Police, Barrackpore. Sunil Kumar Yadav (IPS:2009:WB) will be Commissioner of Police, Chandannagar.

At the district level, Pushpa (IPS:2012:WB) has been posted as SP, Barasat Police District. Jaspreet Singh (IPS:2016:WB) as SP, Coochbehar. Surya Pratap Yadav (IPS:2011:WB) as SP, Birbhum. Rakesh Singh (SPS:2014) as SP, Islampur PD. Kumar Sunny Raj (IPS:2017:WB) as SP, Hooghly Rural. Ishani Paul (IPS:2013:WB) as SP, Diamond Harbour PD.

Sachin (IPS:2013:WB) has been posted as SP, Murshidabad PD. Alaknanda Bhowal (IPS:2017:WB) as SP, Basirhat PD. Anupam Singh (IPS:2015:WB) as SP, Malda. Angshuman Saha (IPS:2012:WB) as SP, Purba Medinipur.

Yelwade Shrikant Jagannathrao (IPS:2015:WB) has been posted as DC, Central Division, Kolkata. Surinder Singh (IPS:2016:WB) as SP, Jangipur. Papiya Sultana (SPS:2015) as SP, Paschim Medinipur.

It has also directed that officers who are transferred out should not be given any election-related duties till the completion of the poll process.

Subrat Das appointed Secretary, Department of Posts

By
LO Bureau
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Subrat Das IPoS

Senior bureaucrat Subrat Das (IPoS:1991) has been appointed Secretary in the Department of Posts. An order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Monday (March 16, 2026) said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment.

He will replace Vandita Kaul (IPoS:1989). She is set to retire on reaching the age of superannuation.

Das is a 1991-batch officer of the Indian Postal Service. He is currently serving as Member (Technology) in the Postal Services Board under the Department of Posts.

The Department of Posts works under the Ministry of Communications. It runs the country’s postal network through India Post. As Secretary, Das will head the department. He will look after policy and administration of the postal system across the country.

S Suresh’s tenure as ADG in SPG extended till Dec 31, 2026

By
LO Bureau
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S Suresh Kerala IPS Officer

The deputation tenure of IPS officer S Suresh (IPS:1995:KL) as Additional Director General (ADG) in the Special Protection Group (SPG) has been extended till December 31, 2026.

An order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Monday (March 16, 2026) said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Office of Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat to his deputation tenure from March 9, 2026 to December 31, 2026.

This is the fifth extension of his tenure in the SPG.

Suresh is a 1995-batch IPS officer of the Kerala cadre. He has been serving in the SPG since December 2017. Before that, he was posted as Inspector General (IG) in the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). He had taken charge there on March 8, 2017 and was moved to the SPG later the same year.

In February 2022, just before the completion of his five-year central deputation, his tenure was extended by one year as Inspector General in the SPG. He got another one-year extension in March 2023.

His tenure was again extended in February 2024 till March 2025. During this period, he was promoted and made Additional Director General in the SPG on March 26, 2024.

In February 2025, his tenure as ADG in the SPG was extended till March 8, 2026. With the latest order, he will now continue in the SPG till December 31, 2026.

Parliamentary panel highlights acute shortage of IAS officers in country

By
LO Bureau
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Shortage of IAS

A Parliamentary Committee has flagged an acute shortage of IAS officers at the national level. According to its report submitted to the Parliament, the country is currently facing a nearly 19% shortage of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, with at least 1,300 of the 6,877 sanctioned positions remaining vacant.

The grim scenario of a shortage of IAS officers was revealed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its 160th report on Demands for Grants (2026-27) pertaining to DoPT, tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

According to it, Nagaland is facing the worst shortage at 43.62 percent, followed by Kerala (32.03 percent) and Manipur (30.43 per cent). It is closely followed by Tripura (27.45 percent) and Odisha (25.40 percent).

The AGMUT cadre (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories), which has officers across different states and UTs, has a shortage of 25.09%. Sikkim too, with 25.00%, is operating with one-fourth of its sanctioned strength vacant.

The Committee said that a special strategy is needed for the northeastern states and smaller cadres where the shortage is disproportionately high.

While the national average shortage is 18.90 percent, several cadres are functioning well above this level.

The panel said that West Bengal (19.84 percent), Rajasthan (19.28 percent), Haryana (20 percent), and Jharkhand (20.98 percent) are functioning with nearly one-fifth of their sanctioned strength vacant.

The panel says that no cadre is currently operating at full sanctioned strength, indicating that the issue of shortage is systemic rather than isolated.

The panel is of the view that persistent shortage continues to adversely affect administrative capacity at the Centre and in the states, particularly at the field-level positions where timely decision-making and policy implementation are critical. Keeping it in mind, it has urged the government to fill up the vacancies on a priority basis.

Additionally, the panel in another part of the report recommended that the government develop a comprehensive framework to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in public administration.

 

DoPT Secy Rachna Shah issued contempt notice by SC for non-compliance of its order

By
LO Bureau
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DoPT's policy push

While hearing a contempt petition, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Rachna Shah (IAS:1991:KL). The contempt petition was filed by IRS officer Captain Pramod Kumar Bajaj after the DoPT allegedly failed to convene a Search-cum-Selection Committee meeting for the appointment of an IRS officer to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). The appointment had been repeatedly stalled for several years.

The petitioner sought the compliance of the top court’s January 30, 2026, order in which it had directed the Union Govt to consider his appointment within four weeks of the passing of an order.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued the notice to Shah while hearing the contempt petition for non-compliance of the top court’s order.

The petitioner claimed that he had gone through almost four selection processes, but his appointment was stalled by the government every time by allegedly framing charges against him.

The bench had rebuffed the Union Govt for deliberately blocking the appointment of the petitioner to the post of Member (Accountant), ITAT, despite his selection being recommended by a Selection Committee chaired by a sitting Supreme Court judge in 2014, where he secured All India Rank 1.

The Court had directed the DoPT to convene a fresh SCSC within four weeks, ensuring inclusion of the officer concerned, and to communicate the outcome to the petitioner within two weeks thereafter.

But the petitioner claimed that the aforesaid order was not complied with, following which the petitioner filed a contempt petition against erring officials.

Shah has been directed to file her response by April 14, 2026.

UPSC makes mandatory for States to get SC’s nod for delay in sending proposal for DGP appointment

By
LO Bureau
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Tamil Nadu DGP

In order to tighten its noose around the state governments committing delays in sending proposals for the empanelment process of DGP, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has revised its rules, making it mandatory for them to get the consent of the Supreme Court for any delay in submitting the list of officers to the UPSC for empanelment to appoint a DGP. 

According to the Supreme Court ruling, states are supposed to send their proposals in anticipation of the vacancies to the UPSC at least three months prior to the date of retirement of the incumbent on the post of DGP. But a growing number of states prefer to appoint acting DGPs instead of sending proposals for empanelment to the UPSC despite the apex court’s guidelines issued in Prakash Singh’s case in 2006.

Many states delay the process of sending proposals for shortlisting the names for appointment of regular DGPs, following which the UPSC sought legal opinion in the matter.

The Attorney General of India (AGI) opined that the delay by the state government in forwarding names for empanelment was “excessive.” 

The AGI advised that the state government should have first come to the Supreme Court in case of any difficulty and seek leave or clarification from the Supreme Court.

It was after the AGI’s advice that the UPSC amended its earlier orders, saying the states shall now seek leave or clarification from the Supreme Court for delayed submission except for death, resignation, or premature relieving of DGP in accordance with the apex court judgment.

Parliamentary panel favours expanding 360-degree empanelment process for all central services officers

By
LO Bureau
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360-degree empanelment process

In a significant development, a Parliamentary Committee has asked the Union Government to examine expanding the 360-degree empanelment process for all central services officers, instead of only IAS officers. The Committee, in its report submitted on Monday, asked the government to examine the feasibility of institutionalising a structured 360-degree review mechanism for empanelment for Joint Secretary and other higher posts under the Union Government.

This issue has been raised in the 160th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice on Demands for Grants (2026-27) pertaining to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

The panel has advocated that this approach would bring parity in evaluation standards across services, strengthen merit-based selection at senior levels, and enhance confidence in the objectivity and robustness of the empanelment process.

Under the current situation, the IAS officers are empanelled for appointment at the Joint Secretary level at the central government through a structured process conducted by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).

This process involves evaluation of officers on the basis of their service records, annual performance appraisal reports (APARs), vigilance status, and overall career profile.

According to the panel report, over the past several years, the empanelment process for IAS officers has incorporated a 360-degree assessment mechanism, under which multi-source feedback is obtained from senior officers, peers and other stakeholders who have worked with the officer concerned.

This process supplements formal performance records with qualitative inputs regarding leadership qualities, domain expertise, integrity, decision-making capacity, and overall suitability for senior policy-making roles in the Government of India.

The panel said that it is of the view that the principles underlying the assessment mechanism, namely holistic evaluation, multi-source feedback, and qualitative assessment of leadership attributes, are relevant not only for IAS officers but also for officers from other services considered for empanelment as Joint Secretaries and other higher posts in the Govt. of India.

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