Joining the chorus of dissent, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, on Monday, shot off a letter to the Centre expressing "strong protest" against the proposed amendments to the All India Services (Cadre) Rules 1954.
The proposal is clearly a move to exercise indirect control by the central government on officers working in the states and would also render state governments as helpless entities in matters of the AIS officers, Rao alleged in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A handful of non-BJP ruled states—Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan—had earlier opposed the move, with the respective chief ministers writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make their stand clear against the proposed amendments.
"On the face of it, the proposed amendments militate against the federal structure of our Constitution, both in letter and spirit. Further the proposed amendments will also seriously erode the All India Service character of the IAS, IPS and IFS. Telangana government, therefore, strongly opposes the proposed amendments," Rao said.
The move amounts to interfering in the functioning of the state governments, targeted harassment of officers and their demoralisation, besides, impacting accountability of officials to the states, he opined.
The proposal is a dangerous move which is against the constitutional framework and spirit of cooperative federalism and if the proposed amendments are implemented by the Centre, the state governments would be reduced to insignificant entities, Rao said.
The proposed amendment to the All India Services (Cadre) Rules 1954 is nothing but amending the Constitution of India relating to the Centre state relations. Instead of such a backdoor method of amending the AIS rules, the Centre should muster courage to amend the provisions by the Parliament, Rao said.
"The present provisions of AIS Cadre Rules are adequate to ensure harmonious and balanced deployment of officers. Therefore I demand government of India to cease and desist from the proposed amendments in the interest of administrative fairness and federal policy of our Constitution," he said.
