Reeling under the acute shortage of IAS officers, the Haryana government has sought the Centre’s help by requesting it to repatriate four of its senior officers currently on central deputation. The four officers are V Umashankar (IAS:1993:HY), Rakesh Gupta (IAS:1997:HY) ), Nitin Kumar Yadav (IAS:2000:HY) and Vikas Gupta (IAS:2001:HY).
Out of the four officers whom the Haryana govt wants back, V Umashankar is currently serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Considered close to the state BJP govt, he has earlier served as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister under both Manohar Lal Khattar and Nayab Singh Saini from 2020 to 2024.
Rakesh Gupta, currently serving as Additional Secretary in the President’s Secretariat since November 2022, handled flagship programmes of the BJP govt, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates Programme. He was also Additional Principal Secretary to the CM during Khattar’s tenure.
Nitin Kumar Yadav is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and was Home Secretary in the Chandigarh Administration from 2021 to 2024.
Vikas Gupta is currently Commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan under the Centre since December 2025. He handled the Urban Local Bodies and Civil Aviation Departments, as well as the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).
The state govt’s move is being interpreted as a desperate bid to bridge the gap between the sanctioned strength and the in-position strength of the IAS officers. The Centre is, however, yet to respond to its request. A reliable source confirmed the development.
The state is currently facing the shortage of 47 officers, as against a sanctioned strength of 226 IAS officers, it has only 179 officers currently posted in Haryana — a shortfall of 20.8 per cent.
The problem of shortage has been further compounded by recent retirements. Two officers, Anita Yadav and Arun Kumar Gupta, who was also the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, retired on September 30. The state govt is yet to name Gupta’s replacement.
Before them, D Suresh retired on August 31, while Raja Sekar Vundru retired on July 31.
At the end of this month, Sanjay Joon, Commissioner of the Faridabad Division, will retire. Sudhir Rajpal, who is handling the Home, Environment, Forest and Wildlife, and Finance Departments, and Geeta Bharti, Commissioner of the Hisar Division, are due to retire on November 30.
Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi is also going to retire on December 31, 2026, after getting two extensions.
What further aggravates the crisis is the fact that five serving officers — Pankaj Agarwal, Ram Kumar Singh, Vineet Garg, Mohd Shayin and Saket Kumar — are facing the CBI investigation in the Rs 657-crore IDFC First Bank scam and thus are unlikely to be given crucial postings.
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