ITANAGAR, Jan 10 - The call for creation of a separate cadre of IAS, IPS and IFS officers for the frontier State of Arunachal Pradesh was reiterated in the State Assembly today with both ruling and Opposition members pitching for it.
Responding to members� observations and suggestions during a short discussion in the House, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said that he would lead a joint delegation of all-party MLAs to New Delhi and urge the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to expedite the process of creating a separate cadre of IAS, IPS and IFS officers for the State.
�I would like to give the assurance to the House that I, leading the joint delegation of lawmakers, will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister for Personnel and Training Jitendra Singh, and if needed, also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to see to it that our repeated demand for creation of a separate cadre of IAS, IPS and IFS officers is fulfilled at the earliest possible,� he said.
Khandu told the House that he had convinced the Centre to create the separate cadre of administrative officers for Arunachal Pradesh in view of the ethnic diversity of the State.
�When our own tribesmen cannot understand the language and culture of other tribes, how can an outsider (administrative officer) understand them? We are not able to implement our programmes and policies properly because the bureaucrats are posted for three to a maximum of five years with two tenures of two-and-a-half years each,� he said.
Presently, the State is manned by IAS, IPS and IFS officers from the AGMUT cadre � a common cadre for Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories. Arunachal Pradesh has a sanctioned strength of 37 IAS and 35 IPS officers.
�I have discussed the matter with the Prime Minister, besides the President, Vice President and the Minister of Personnel and Training. The State Governor has also discussed it with several Central leaders on many occasions,� the Chief Minister said. He said that the Centre is considering the issue.