The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday (January 15, 2026) appointed IAS officer Anindita Mitra (IAS:2007:PB) as the new Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab. She replaces Sibin C(IAS:2005:PB), who has proceeded on central deputation after being appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Notably, Anindita Mitra’s husband, S Karuna Raju(IAS:1998:PB), had earlier served as the Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab before Sibin C was appointed to the post in 2023. Sibin C held the position for nearly three years.
According to the notification issued by the Election Commission of India, Anindita Mitra will relinquish her existing responsibilities under the Government of Punjab before assuming charge as Chief Electoral Officer. She is currently serving as Secretary, Education, Punjab.
It is learnt that the Punjab government had forwarded a panel of three IAS officers to the Election Commission of India for the post of CEO. The panel included Ramvir and Sonali Giri, and Anindita Mitra was selected by the ECI, following which the state government issued the formal order appointing her to the post.
The Haryana government finds itself staring at an inexplicable bureaucratic vacuum at the top, with Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi being confined to bed following bypass heart surgery last Friday and the government not being able to assign the additional charge of Chief Secretary to anyone. The state is thus witnessing an administrative crisis with a headless bureaucracy at a critical time, as Rastogi also holds the additional charge of Finance Secretary and the state is gearing itself for budget presentation.
This situation is strikingly different from what unfolded in 2024. While IAS Vivek Joshi was tipped to take over as the Chief Secretary after the retirement of TVSN Prasad on October 31, 2024, from that post. As Joshi was on central deputation and could join the new posting after three days, the post was not kept vacant from November 1st to 3rd. As a result, Anurag Rastogi, who was then serving as Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance and Home Departments, was given its additional charge.
But in the present scenario almost a week is going to lapse since Rastogi was hospitalized, but no alternate arrangement has been made.
What is complicating the situation for the state is the fact that the annual budget is also scheduled to be presented in the state assembly in February-March.
To further confound the crisis, Rastogi, who holds the additional charge of Finance Secretary, is lying on the hospital bed, and the post of Finance Commissioner has been lying vacant for 11 months now. As a result, Home Secretary Sumita Mishra is acting solely as a link officer.
In such a situation, the government can appoint a senior IAS officer to the post of Finance Secretary instead of making do with a link officer. The link officer of the Finance Secretary is virtually the Administrative Secretary of the Excise and Taxation Department. Currently, IAS officer Ashima Barar (IAS: 2004:HY) can handle the work as the link officer of the Finance Secretary. Besides, a Commissioner and Secretary-2 is also posted in the Finance Department, while senior IAS officer Mohammad Shain (IAS:2002:HY), who is also senior to Barar, is posted as the Commissioner and Secretary-1.
There are several precedents when a senior IAS officer was given additional charge of the Chief Secretary to maintain continuity in governance when such a situation arose.
On March 15, 2024, when the then Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal went on leave, four and a half months before his retirement, the then Finance Commissioner TVSN Prasad was given the additional charge of the CS. It was again replicated in Nov, 2024, when Rastogi was given additional charge of the Chief Secretary after Prasad’s retirement.
So, under the prevailing circumstances, the Haryana govt must look for an alternative arrangement to get bailed out of the situation. Sources suggest that the govt is aiming to have a good alternative without much bureaucratic shuffle. Particularly so as Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini himself is the minister in charge of the finance department.
Government sources say that the govt tried to assess the probabilities of three officers of the 1990 batch IAS—Dr. Sumita Misra Singh, Sudhir Rajpal, and R S Vundru. Misra is due to attain superannuation in Jan 2027 and is said to be the strongest candidate, as she is FCR as well as in charge of the home department, which is held by CM Saini. Since FCR is also a link officer of CS, she could be the govt’s pick for the CS post.
Sudhir Rajpal could be another choice considering his seniority, but Rajpal is due to attain superannuation in Nov this year itself. Vundru is the third probable, but the govt could consider him for departments like home and finance in case Misra is either appointed or asked to officiate as chief secretary during the medical leave of Anurag Rastogi.
It should be mentioned here that Rastogi had virtually retired last year but was given a one-year extension and is now due to retire on June 30 this year.
The central deputation tenure of Bishnu Charan Mallick (IAS:2007:RJ) as Director of Census Operations (DCO)/Director of Citizen Registration (DCR), Rajasthan, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been extended by three months. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Wednesday (January 14, 2025), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the Ministry of Home Affairs’ proposal to extend Mallick’s deputation tenure beyond December 31, 2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Notably, Bishnu Charan Mallick has been serving in the post since December 2020. He was initially appointed for a tenure of three years and was subsequently granted an extension in November 2023, extending his tenure up to December 31, 2025. With the latest order, his deputation tenure now stands extended up to March 31, 2026.
Gujarat cadre IAS officer Anupam Anand (IAS:2000:GJ) has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), Ahmedabad, for a tenure of five years. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Wednesday (January 14, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post.
The appointment will be effective from the date Anupam Anand assumes charge of the post and will continue for a period of five years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Anand is currently serving in his parent cadre in Gujarat as Transport Commissioner. He will replace Lochan Sehra (IAS:2002:GJ), who had been serving in the post since October 2022. Although Sehra was appointed for a five-year tenure scheduled to end in October 2027, he was prematurely repatriated in December 2025.
Senior IPS officer Rakesh Aggarwal (IPS:1994:HP) has been appointed as Director General (DG) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Wednesday (January 14, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post in Level-16 of the Pay Matrix.
Aggarwal’s appointment will be effective from the date he assumes charge of the post and will continue up to August 31, 2028, the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
He is currently serving as Special Director General in the NIA and succeeds Sadanand Vasant Date (IPS:1990:MH), who was prematurely repatriated to his parent cadre, Maharashtra. Following Date’s repatriation, Rakesh Aggarwal was given the additional charge of Director General, NIA, on December 31, 2025.
In a key development, the central government on Wednesday (January 14, 2026) made two significant appointments in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). Senior IPS officer Praveen Kumar (IPS:1993:WB), who is currently serving as Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), has been appointed as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Level-16 of the Pay Matrix.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), his appointment will be effective from the date he assumes charge of the post and will continue up to September 30, 2030, the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Notably, Praveen Kumar had been holding the additional charge of Director General, BSF following the superannuation of Daljit Singh Chaudhary (IPS:1990:UP) on November 30, 2025.
Meanwhile, Haryana cadre IPS officer Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor (IPS:1990:HY), who is currently serving as Chairman, Haryana Police Housing Corporation, has been appointed as Director General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police in Level-17 of the Pay Matrix. He will replace Praveen Kumar.
As per the DoPT order, Kapoor’s tenure will be from the date he assumes charge of the post until October 31, 2026, the date of his retirement.
The Delhi High Court has made a path-breaking judicial pronouncement regarding the allocation of the home state cadre under the All India Services Cadre Allocation Policy. The court has ruled that an officer seeking allocation to their home state cadre must necessarily indicate the home state as his/her first preference. The court made it clear that just by expressing willingness to serve in the home state through listing it as a lower preference will not do.
This observation was made by a Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain.
The case involves the cadre allocation of an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer. The officer had indicated willingness to work in his home state, Rajasthan, while filling the application form for the IFS Examination in 2009 but placed it as the sixth preference in his final cadre preference list.
On the basis of his merit position and the Centre’s cadre allocation policy, he was allotted the Nagaland cadre.
The officer moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which held that since Rajasthan was the officer’s home state and an insider vacancy existed, he should have been considered for allocation of the Rajasthan cadre even though it was his sixth preference. The CAT then directed the Centre to allocate the Rajasthan cadre to him by creating a supernumerary post
The Centre moved the High Court against this order. The court made a detailed analysis of Clauses 5 to 8 of the Cadre Allocation Policy, 2008, to hold that policy necessarily requires candidates to list their home state as their first preference if they wish to get their home state cadre as insiders.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court pulled up the Haryana government for its failure to file a reply in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of a retired DGP as chairperson of the State Police Complaints Authority.
The court heard the case on Monday and gave four weeks to the state govt to file its reply, with a warning that any further delay would cost the state its right to respond.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Neerja Kulwant Kalson passed an interim order while noting that despite notice having been issued on August 29, 2025, the Haryana govt. had not filed its reply so far.
The hearing in the matter will be resumed on February 26, 2026.
Senior Karnataka IPS officer Vartika Katiyar (IPS:2010:KN) has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the state government’s order to transfer her following the Ballari violence on January 1. The CAT has directed the state govt not to take any action against Katiyar until the next hearing on January 19.
The Karnataka government had issued marching orders to her following the eruption of violence in the Ballari district, which claimed the life of a Congress worker, Rajashekar Reddy.
Katiyar moved the CAT, challenging her transfer on Monday.
Katiyar held the post of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Ballari range when the incident took place, after which she was transferred to the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement as DIG.
Apart from Katiyar, the state government also suspended Ballari Superintendent of Police (SP) Pavan Nejjoor (IPS:2016:KN) for negligence in duties. Incidentally, Nejjoor had taken charge of the district just a day back.
In a major relief to the Telangana government, the Centre has increased its IAS cadre strength from the existing 208 to 218. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued a communication to this effect.
This increase was approved, as the state has been grappling with a shortage of IAS officers since its inception in June 2014 following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. The Centre took almost two years to complete the distribution of IAS officers between the two states, and it was only in January 2016 that Telangana’s cadre strength was fixed at 163 officers. It was increased to 208 in April 2016.
The latest enhancement of ten officers has come after a gap of nearly ten years. But even this increase is not enough to lessen Telangana’s administrative woes, as only 171 IAS officers are currently working in the state cadre, leaving 47 posts vacant.
The state Chief Minister, A. Revanth Reddy, has been consistently pleading with the Centre to address the shortfall. During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in March 2024, the CM had even submitted a representation seeking the allotment of 29 IAS officers to Telangana.
Though the Centre has now approved an increase of 10 posts, a considerable deficit between sanctioned and working strength continues to bother the state, as this shortage visibly impacts governance, particularly after the steep rise in the number of districts from 10 to 33.
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