By Admin 
IAS IPS Posting: Recently the Central Government has started a new cadre allocation policy for the three All India Services. This has brought some important changes in how officers are assigned to states and union territories. This policy is applicable to IAS, IPS and IFS officers. Meanwhile, let us know how the cadre system of officers is decided.
Basics of Cadre Allocation
The cadre of an IAS or IPS officer is mainly decided by three things. UPSC rank, candidate’s choice and availability of vacancies in different states. The Center recruits officers through the Union Public Service Commission and they are allocated to the state cadre where they spend most of their career. Under the new policy, the vacancy is counted from January 1 of the respective year. In this, cadre wise requirement of the states is kept in mind.
New Cadre Grouping System
One of the biggest changes is the introduction of an alphabetical grouping system in place of the earlier 5 zone system. India’s 25 cadres are now divided into four groups. Group 1 includes Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, Union Territories, Andhra Pradesh, Assam-Meghalaya, Bihar and Chhattisgarh. Group 2 includes Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. Group 3 includes Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu. Group 4 includes Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Preference and cycle based allocation
Candidates will have to first indicate their favorite group and then list their favorite states in that group in order. The allocation is done using a cycle system, where ranks are viewed in batches of 25. Like rank 1-25, 26-50, etc. In each cycle, only one officer is allocated to a particular cadre at a time. This ensures that no one state monopolizes the top rank and talent is distributed equally across the country.
insider outsider rule
To maintain neutrality and national integration, the cadre system follows the 33:66 insider outsider rule. That means, in a state cadre, about one-third seats are reserved for the candidates of that state, while the remaining two-thirds are reserved for the candidates of other states. Getting home state cadre is possible but only if the candidate’s rank is high enough and he gives top preference to his home state.
Who controls cadre allocation?
Its final authority lies with the Central Ministries. Cadre allocation for IAS officers is done by the Department of Personnel and Training. The responsibility for IPS officers lies with the Home Ministry.
Although the Center decides the cadre, postings within the state like District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police or other roles are handled by the respective state government.
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