Delhi Government to Transfer Up to 70 Percent of Long Serving Bureaucrats
The Delhi government is executing a major administrative reshuffle to transfer 60 to 70 percent of cadre and ex-cadre officials who have held their positions for more than five years, following recent departmental crackdowns including at ITO. Initiated under the directions of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the sweeping reshuffle aims to bring transparency and curb corruption, laxity, and negligence across various departments in the capital.
The transfer plan targets Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil) Service (DANICS) officers, ad-hoc DANICS officers, Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs), and Grade-I officers. According to government sources, these officials have been working in a "comfort zone" for over five years.
The initiative has already commenced with a significant reshuffle in the Finance and Accounts department, where the government transferred 52 officers who had served in the same place for five years or more. This group included 23 Deputy Controllers of Accounts and 29 Senior Accounts Officers. Additionally, 19 Senior Accounts Officers were promoted to Deputy Controllers of Accounts.
The administrative crackdown follows previous actions taken by Chief Minister Gupta to monitor the bureaucracy. In April, the Chief Minister conducted a surprise inspection at the Trade and Taxes department at ITO. Finding several senior officials absent from their desks, she ordered the strict implementation of a biometric attendance system.
Following that ITO inspection, show-cause notices were issued, and the department subsequently transferred 162 officers and employees, including three Assistant Commissioners, who had been posted at the same location for over three years.
Furthermore, Chief Minister Gupta recently recommended that Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu transfer 39 doctors posted in Tihar and Mandoli jails for over five years. The proposal, which includes specialist doctors and General Duty Medical Officers, seeks to deploy 35 new doctors in their place, totaling approximately 74 proposed transfers.
Officials noted that while the Services department falls under the Lieutenant Governor, who clears transfers for IAS officers, the Chief Secretary handles transfers for SDMs, ad-hoc DANICS, and Grade-I officers. Cadre-based officials will undergo intra-departmental transfers, moving within their current departments.
