Indian Administrative Service (IAS), one of the topmost cadre in the country is losing its sheen at least for those posted in Uttar Pradesh. Once known as the most favoured state among the IAS toppers, the serving officers UP cadre have been either opting for Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) or quitting the job.
While four senior IAS officers of the UP cadre have already opted for VRS in the last few months, another one has decided to quit the services. The 2005 batch IAS officer of UP cadre Gururale Sriniwas Lu has submitted his resignation this week before the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Appointment & Personnel, Devesh Chaturvedi. He has cited health reasons behind his resignation. IAS Sriniwas Lu belonged to Andhra Pradesh and had been there on deputation from 2016 to 2020. After coming back from deputation, he was appointed as special secretary of finance in UP. Recently he was transferred as special secretary in Revenue department on September 6.
Earlier another IAS officer of UP, Vidya Bhushan had resigned after failing to get VRS. The state government would soon initiate the process of taking No Objection Certificate (NOC) in his case from the various departments and districts where Vidya Bhushan has served earlier. After this, the resignation would be sent to the Chief Minister for acceptance. Two senior IAS officers from UP, Juthika Patankar, Vikas Gothalwal and Renuka Kumar have also applied for VRS. While the state government has accepted the request of Juthika Patankar at its level, the matter of Vikas Gothalwal has been referred to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). In the case of Renuka Kumar, the state government is yet to get NOC from one of the departments where she had served earlier.
When asked about a series of such cases in UP, a retired IAS officer said that after 2004, the clause of pension in this service ended. Since then the IAS officer has been looking for fancy corporate assignments and other lucrative jobs. Besides the pressure of work in a politically volatile state like UP too has been creating problems for the officers of top services.
