Mixed bag for Raj IAS officers in Central empanelment!

Jaipur: There is some good news for the IAS cadre of the State. Mugdha Sinha of the 1999 batch has been empanelled for additional secretary posts at the Centre. Currently serving as a joint secretary, she is the only officer from Rajasthan included in the list of 26 officers nationwide who were empanelled as additional secretaries on Monday.

In the list released by Central DOPT, IAS officers belonging to batches 1995–1999 have been included. Almost half of them are already working on deputation in the Central Government as joint secretaries. While Mugdha Sinha’s empanelment is a positive development, there is also some disappointing news. Rajesh Kumar Yadav, a 1996 batch IAS officer from the Rajasthan cadre, was not empanelled this time despite having served as a joint secretary at the Centre for the past two years.

It is quite uncommon for an IAS officer on deputation at the Centre to not be empanelled for a higher post. A notable example is Tanmay Kumar, a 1993 batch officer from the Rajasthan cadre. He currently serves as an Additional Secretary at the Centre and was empanelled for the post of Secretary in February 2024.

Now, the empanelment for Secretary positions for the 1994 IAS batch is expected in the next 2–4 months. Nareshpal Gangwar and Roli Singh, both 1994 batch officers currently serving as Additional Secretaries at the Centre, are anticipated to be included.

Interestingly, the recent list of 26 empanelled Additional Secretaries includes officers from the 1995 batch, suggesting that Dinesh Kumar from the 1996 batch should also have been considered. Kumar, who served as a Joint Secretary at the Centre from 2015 to 2019, is currently the Principal Secretary (Revenue) in Rajasthan.

Similarly, the empanelment of Gaurav Goyal of 2006 batch for Joint Secretary is also overdue, while the empanelment of officers of 2007 and 2008 batch has already been done. It is disheartening to repeatedly note that Rajasthan is falling behind in securing Central Deputation opportunities for its officers.