Centre tells Nagaland Govt to appoint only IAS officers as DCs

Guwahati: The Nagaland Government has been pulled up by the Narendra Modi-led Centre for posting non-IAS officers as Deputy Commissioners in 6 of its 11 districts, reports said.

In a letter to Nagaland Chief Secretary Temjen Toy, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) stated that these postings are "in violation of Rule 9 of IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954", stated The Print.

The letter, dated June 1, also stated that "there is no shortage of suitable IAS officers.". It then goes on to state that there are at least 9 active IAS officers who have been posted to the rank of ex-cadre or subordinate posts instead of being posted as Deputy Commissioners.

It needs mention here that Rule 9 states that the cadre posts shall not be filled by a non-IAS officer barring a few exceptions, and it shall only be a temporary solution that requires the state Government to take the prior approval of the Centre.

The DoPT letter called on the Neiphiu Rio-led Government to replace the 6 non-cadre officers with any of the 9 IAS officers who are available.

The rule further states that when an IAS officer is available, the non-IAS officers must be replaced by them.

Days after this letter was dashed off to the Nagaland Government, Governor R N Ravi lamented "misgovernance" in the region, highlighting the extortion activities being carried out in the state.

In a letter to the state's Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Ravi had stated that the important law and order decisions like transferring and posting of officials entrusted with the maintenance of law and order responsibility of and above the district level must only be done after the prior approval of the Governor. Ravi also said that the Annual Performance Appraisal of these officers must be reviewed to ensure accountability among the officials.

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