When the going is good at home, stay put. This seems to be the mantra of IAS and IPS officers in Punjab, a far cry from the militancy days when most of them, especially IPS officers, used to prefer a Central posting.As per rules, out of 170 IAS officers in Punjab, about 40 have to be on deputation with the government of India, but only 20 are posted out. Similarly, of 144 IPS officers, 31 have to be with the Centre. Against this, only eight have stepped out of the state, two of them on foreign assignments.Former Punjab DGP PC Dogra says, ‘‘Service conditions here are far better than what the government of India offers.’’ But during the peak of militancy, there was mad rush for a Delhi posting. Of 31 IPS officers, 25 had opted for deputation during the period.While the Punjab officers prefer to skip deputation, it’s different in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. In Himachal, for instance, 21 IPS officers are posted out on deputation though only 16 of them are required to do so. The number of IAS officers with the Centre is also 30 against the specified 31. Haryana-cadre officers are also more willing to serve in Delhi. So, 35 of the 212 IAS officers are out of the state though ideally, this number should touch 55. Likewise, 15 of the 125 IPS officers have been posted out against the specified 34.A retired senior IAS officer of the Punjab cadre says, ‘‘The privileges and perks in the state are so good that nobody wants to leave. In Delhi, if you are on deputation below Joint Secretary level, you have to travel by public transport. In Punjab, the officer would get a pool car which would be at his disposal all the time.’’Another reason is that very rarely do the officers get good postings, which would mean in ministries like Home, Finance, Industry. There is also a shortage of officers. While the total cadre strength of IPS officers in Punjab is 144, at present, there are only 117. The cadre is short of 15 direct IPS officers and 11 promotees from PPS, said sources.
