IAS, IPS couple choose Gujarat as common cadre; Govt may bend rules to ensure they live together

THE Central government is likely to bend existing rules to give the post-marriage life of IAS officer P Parthiban and IPS officer Ms Nisha Parthiban a happy ending. As BoI had written on a post dated February 5, cadre change of the officers— 2011 batch AGMUT cadre IAS P Parthiban and 2011 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS Nisha Parthiban— could not be done under existing policies of inter-cadre transfers on the grounds of marriage. But in a DoPT secretary-chaired meeting held on April 13, it was decided that the panel will…

take up the policy for such cases first. In fact, the government has shown its eagerness to change the existing policies after the officers concerned convened that they would go for a third cadre — i.e. Gujarat as their new cadre. The problem cropped up as either of the officers could not opt for the cadre of the spouse being their home cadre, according to existing policy. To put it in simpler terms, P Parthiban can’t be placed in Tamil Nadu cadre where Nisha Parthiban has been working, as Tamil Nadu happens to be his home cadre. Similarly, Nisha Parthiban can’t be shifted to her husband’s cadre AGMUT, as she belongs to Delhi, meaning AGMUT will be her home cadre. But once both of them are willing to work in a third cadre, i.e. Gujarat, the panel is likely to change the rules and facilitate their stay in the same state.

Meanwhile, in case of the proposal of inter-cadre transfer of Ravindra Kumar, 2011 batch Sikkim cadre IAS from Sikkim cadre to Uttar Pradesh cadre on the grounds of marriage to Mrs Diksha Bhandari, 2013 batch UP cadre Indian Forest Service officer, the government has decided to seek comments of state governments of Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh and also the vigilance status of the officers.

Similarly, the government decided to take up another case only after getting the no-objection from the states concerned. It is regarding the inter cadre transfer proposal of Ms Reena Niranjan, 2013 batch West Bengal cadre IAS from West Bengal cadre to Uttarakhand cadre on grounds of marriage to Mr Chandra Shekhar Joshi, 2012 batch Indian Forest Service officer.

For another case, i.e. the inter cadre transfer of Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, 2015 West bengal cadre IAS from West Bengal cadre to Tamil Nadu cadre on grounds of marriage to Raja Gopal Sunkara, 2015 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, the DoPT secretary-headed panel decided to take it up only after the clearances were received from the states concerned.