There are many routes to fulfill your aspirations in life. Becoming an IAS officer is not just enough, you need to cautiously apply your creative brain to maneuver if you wish to add extra flavor to your career as a bureaucrat. Score of IAS officers are doing it by using matrimonial alliances as an easy route to add wings to their career. And this trend is catching up.
Due to its close proximity to the national capital, Haryana has emerged as a hot destination for such officers using marriage route to seek cadre transfers and secure postings in this state, perceived to be attractive for professional opportunities.
The list of such officers is getting exhaustive.
RTI activist Hemant Kumar has found out that at least 10 IAS officers were transferred to Haryana in recent years due to their marriages.
The most recent example was provided by Utsav Anand. A 2022-batch IAS officer, Anand got UP cadre, but was re-allotted to the Haryana cadre following his marriage to Anjali Shrotriya, his IAS batchmate from Haryana. Utsav, a native of Jharkhand, and Anjali, from Madhya Pradesh originally, had their cadre change approved by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) on Jan 15, 2025.
Same is the case with Tripura-cadre IAS officer Rahul Modi, who was transferred to Haryana after marrying Haryana-cadre IPS officer Deepti Garg in Sept 2023. Rahul is from Rajasthan, while Deepti belongs to Haryana.
Similarly, in April 2023, Anupama Anjali, a 2018-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, joined the Haryana cadre after marrying Harshit Kumar, a 2020-batch IAS officer from Haryana.
In Nov 2022, Renu Sogan, a 2019-batch IAS officer from the West Bengal cadre, transferred to Haryana following her marriage to Hitesh Meena, also a 2019-batch IAS officer from Haryana. Both are from Rajasthan originally.
Some other transfers are that of Dr Balpreet Singh, who shifted from the Kerala cadre in Feb 2022 after marrying Haryana-cadre IPS officer Upasana.
In Oct 2021, Shantanu Sharma from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre transferred to Haryana after his marriage to C Jayashradha, a 2020-batch IAS officer from Haryana.
These officers make use of DoPT guidelines, which allow IAS, IPS, and IFS officers to transfer to their spouse’s cadre after marriage, barring their home state. In cases where both spouses agree, a third state can be allotted.
Neha Singh’s case highlights the complexities of these transfers. Initially from the Gujarat cadre, Neha joined Haryana in July 2021 after marrying Haryana- cadre IAS officer Rahul Hooda. Rahul had shifted to Haryana cadre in 2015 after marrying a Haryana-cadre IPS officer. Following their divorce, Rahul’s second marriage facilitated Neha’s transfer.
But it is not all that easy. Many of these young officers start early by forming alliances during their training period at the academy, influenced by shared interests and prolonged time spent together. Additionally, family-arranged marriages among similarly positioned bureaucrats further contribute to this trend. Deputation is an alternative for officers seeking temporary postings in preferred locations, though these arrangements are limited typically to three or four years.
