E-Paper
Five IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh seek voluntary retirement within a month
Special secretary (Revenue) Gurrala Sreenivasulu is the latest officer who has moved an application for voluntary retiremen
Five Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers seeking voluntary retirement from the prestigious service within a month have set the bureaucracy in Uttar Pradesh abuzz with speculation.
Special secretary (Revenue) Gurrala Sreenivasulu is the latest officer who has moved an application for voluntary retirement to chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra and additional chief secretary (Appointment) Devesh Chaturvedi .
A 2005-batch IAS officer, Sreenivasulu was on inter-cadre deputation to his home state Andhra Pradesh from January 2016 to July 2022. He returned to the parent cadre Uttar Pradesh in July and was posted as special secretary (Finance) on July 29. On September 6, he was transferred to the revenue department in the same capacity.
Vidya Bhusan, a 2008-batch IAS officer posted as managing director of Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam, opted for voluntary retirement on September 5. His wife, Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Alankrita Singh, was suspended by the state government on the charge of negligence in duty and indiscipline in April.
In August, three IAS officers Renuka Kumar (1987 batch), Juthika Patankar (1988 batch) and Vikas Gothalwal (2003 batch) opted for voluntary retirement.
Gothalwal, Sreenivasulu and Bhusan have sought voluntary retirement on health grounds.
Uttar Pradesh IAS Association president RK Tiwari said, “IAS officers opting for voluntary retirement are not limited to Uttar Pradesh but in other states, too, several IAS officers have taken voluntary retirement. It’s the personal decision of the officer to move out of the service for better options in the private sector. Voluntary retirement is not an uncommon phenomenon as earlier in U.P. some IAS officers have opted for voluntary retirement and are serving on various posts in the private sector.”
A senior IAS officer said the “changing working situation” in the service, political pressure and better options in the private sector are stimulating the officers to take voluntary retirement. In some cases, when the state government turned down the voluntary retirement request, the officers sent resignation letters. This indicates that the all India service does not fascinate the officer, he said.
Another IAS officer said the service conditions are also prompting the officer to opt for voluntary retirement.
The 1990-batch IAS officers are awaiting promotion to the additional chief secretary rank since long. The state government is not following a liberal policy in relieving IAS officers for central deputation as well, he said.
An appointment department officer said the voluntary retirement applications of Juthika Patankar and Vikas Gothalwal have been approved while the application of the remaining three officers is likely to be cleared soon.
