Saturday, March 29, 2025
In Haryana, a recent promotee IAS officer, who never remained SDM or ADC during his entire HCS career, posted as DC
Earlier only non-State Civil Service officers inducted to IAS got such rare opportunity- Advocate Hemant Kumar
Chandigarh – It may sound quite interesting and surprising but the fact is that in the State of Haryana, an administrative officer who has never ever served as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and/or Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) can nevertheless very much be posted as Deputy Commissioner (DC) of a district.
In a latest posting & transfer order issued by the Haryana Government this on Sep 6 pertaining to over one & a half dozen IAS, amidst the same, one of the 15 IAS officers, Satpal Sharma, who was promoted to IAS from the Haryana Civil Service-Executive Branch (HCS-EB) a month back on Aug 4 and who thereafter was granted 2017 batch year/seniority of IAS on August 21, has been posted as the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Panchkula district along with Chief Administrator of the Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board. Earlier, Sharma was posted as Administrator (Hqrs) in Haryana Shehari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), Panchkula.
Hemant Kumar, advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court and commentator on administrative matters quips that whenever a person becomes an IAS through any of the three modes viz. whether through direct recruitment by passing the All India Civil Services Examination conducted annually by the UPSC, or through promotion from the State Civil Service (SCS), or through nomination/selection via Non-State Civil Service (Non-SCS) quota, his or her keen desire is to be posted as the DC of a district in the State as soon as possible.
Interestingly, since Dec 2002, when Satpal Sharma, who was then a regular Group C employee serving in State PWD(B&R) Department, was directly appointed/nominated to HCS cadre by the then ruling OP Chautala dispensation in Haryana (remember there was no provision for conducting any sort of competitive examination then for induction into HCS through Group C employee quota ) and until his promotion to IAS cadre in August 2025, although Satpal Sharma hold various senior administrative positions in several departments and boards/corporations of the Haryana Government however, for whatever reasons, he was never ever posted as an SDM in any sub-division or as an ADC in any district in Haryana.
Meanwhile, Hemant asserted that while there is nothing wrong with being posted as DC after being inducted into IAS without having previously served as SDM or ADC during one’s service career in State Civil Service, however as per prevalent administrative practices and conventions in Haryana, every HCS cadre officer, whether selected through the open examination conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) or nominated/promoted from the Tehsildar/District Revenue Officer(DRO) quota or Group C employee category or District Development & Panchayat Officer/BDPO quota, is invariably posted as SDM of a sub-division or as ADC of a district at some point of time during his or her service career in the State Civil Service. Satpal Sharma is possibly the only officer in the Haryana State bureaucracy who did not held any of the above posting during his hitherto administrative entire service of over two decades which is an unique instance in itself.
Even persons who clear All India Civil Services Examination conducted annually by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and are selected and appointed as IAS are typically posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) for the first four years of their service, and then as Additional District Commissioner (ADC) for another two to three years. Only after at least seven to eight years of service, i.e., after being in the IAS for such period, are they usually posted as Deputy Commissioner (DC).
Meanwhile, Hemant also points out that while there are indeed certain instances of officers who were directly inducted into IAS through non-HCS ( i.e. non-Service Civil Service) quota were however straightway posted as DC within one or two years of their appointment to IAS of course without possessing previous experience of serving as SDM or ADC, nevertheless, Satpal Sharma, who has been however promoted to IAS from HCS, is perhaps the only officer till date who now holds the distinction of being posted as Deputy Commissioner without having earlier served as SDM or ADC during his entire State Civil Service career.
