Till some years back, Indian Police Service and Indian Administrative Service officers being sent from Delhi to Andaman and Nicobar Islands was seen as a punishment posting of sorts. The bias among the services was sharp as most wanted to opt for “soft “ postings despite the allowances offered in hard areas. The trend is fast changing and the popularity of “hard area” postings has sharply risen among the IAS and IPS services.
There are new entrants to the “hard areas” list—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh - increasing the list to six areas. This has, in turn, increased scope for officers looking for challenges that will bring greater dividends than a quiet and an uneventful tenure in Delhi.
The latest order issue by the MHA classified Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram Andaman and Lakshadweep as “hard areas”, and Delhi, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Puducherry and Goa as “regular” postings. With the latest order, the MHA has also made it clear that its decision to merge Jammu and Kashmir cadre with the joint AGMUT is here to stay. There had been much resistance and debate around the merger of the two cadres after the bifurcation and subsequent reorganisation of J&K into twin UTs of JK and Ladakh in 2019.
MHA officials said there was a need to give J&K a larger pool of officers from across the country to be able to carry out administrative work at a much faster pace as well counter the vested interests and corruption that had grown in the state. However, the issue gained much heat after certain political parties and cadre officers from the state resisted the move saying that entry of outsiders into the system will take away the local sentiment nurtured for decades in the state that enjoyed a special status.
But with the MHA looking at integrating J&K with the rest of the country, the move is now complete with its latest order as far as all India services are concerned.
An officer in Kashmir said there are several advantages of hard postings. Firstly, decision-making powers are higher in such areas even as the experience of serving in hard areas tends to give an edge to government officers once they return.
“The central government has changed the way officers treat hard area postings,” said another officer posted in Lakshadweep.
Earlier, the tendency of IPS and IAS officers to stick to Delhi or at most opt for “soft area” postings had been a major area of concern for the home ministry. After the Narendra Modi government came to power, it laid special emphasis on revising guidelines and redefining what a hard or soft posting entails, to streamline the process.
The AGMUT cadre, popularly known as the UT cadre, is governed by the Union home ministry and caters to the needs of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Delhi, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. These units are far flung, geographically dispersed and widely differ from each other climatically, linguistically, culturally and even administratively.
Location, education, healthcare and connectivity widely differ, which throws bigger challenges to the cadre officers and their families. MHA officials said there was an immediate need for objective handling of transfers and postings in these areas - so that those who are in Delhi don’t overstay and those who are outside their comfort zones don’t yearn for their return.
In 2016, the Union home ministry decided to change the transfer and postings for IAS and IPS officers under two categories of “regular” and “hard postings”. The aim was to ensure that no unit serviced by the cadre remained starved of cadre officers and the onus to serve in the constituents outside Delhi and also hard and soft areas is shared equally by the officers. With the latest order in hand, the MHA has killed two birds with one stone for now.
