Here is your 10-point guide to the controversy
The Department of Personnel and Training has sent a list of proposed amendments to the chief secretaries of all states, titled Proposal for Amendments in IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954.
If the new rules come into force, an officer whom the Union government wishes to put on deputation would "stand relieved" from state cadre, irrespective of the consent of the state government concerned, consent within a given time.
The centre has alleged that states are not sparing an adequate number of IAS officers for central deputation and this is affecting the functioning of the government.
Citing numbers, the centre has said that the number of IAS officers on central deputation has dropped from 309 to 223. It has said that the numbers have dropped despite an increase of IAS officers at deputy secretary/director level from 621 in 2014 to 1,130 in 2021.
The state governments have been asked to furnish their comments on the proposed changes by January 25 and the centre plans to table them in the Budget session of Parliament, which starts on January 31.
Several states have targeted the centre's proposal, saying that such a move would instill fear in officers working in the states. These include West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister, expressing strong reservations on the proposal which she has described as "draconian".
Ms Banerjee, whose government has had several conflicts with the centre over IAS officers working in the state, has contended that the proposed amendments are "against the foundations of our great federal polity".
Governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the latest to join the protest against the amendments. The proposed changes "strike at the very root" of the nation's federal polity, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has said in a letter to the Prime Minister.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said the present rules of deputation are already heavily loaded in favour of the Union government and the proposed changes would "induce a fear psychosis" among the officers.
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