Gurugram: Over the past decade, a procession of IAS, IPS and IFoS officers—posted to cadres as far apart as Tamil Nadu and Tripura—have found their way to Haryana after marriage.
Among the latest is Aditi Singh, a 2021-batch IPS officer who was serving as superintendent of police at Himachal Pradesh’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. Her cadre was transferred to Haryana in April, on grounds of her marriage to Vivek Arya, a 2021-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer.
Similarly, Utsav Anand, a 2022-batch IAS officer originally allotted to the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was transferred in January following his marriage to batchmate Anjali Shrotriya, already posted in Haryana.
Ask a senior IAS officer why Haryana, and the answer is deceptively simple.
“Haryana is not just a posting,” a retired officer who served in senior positions in the state told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
“For an officer who wants to give their family a good life while continuing serious work, it is perhaps the best possible combination in the country. You are closer to Lutyens Delhi. Your children can study in the best schools in the capital. You can hold charge in Gurugram or Faridabad, which are in a way extensions of Delhi. If you are senior enough, there is the additional charge arrangement where you can have accommodation in Delhi itself,” the retired officer added.
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The rule & the transfers
Under Rule 5(2) of the IAS and IPS Cadre Rules, inter-cadre transfers are permitted when both spouses serve in the All India Services and are posted to different cadres, subject to central government approval. There is one constraint: no officer may be transferred to their home state.
In September 2023, Rahul Modi, a 2020-batch IAS officer from the Tripura cadre, moved to Haryana cadre after his marriage to IPS officer Deepti Garg, already serving in the state. Months earlier, in April 2023, Anupama Anjali — a 2018-batch officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre — made the same journey after marrying Harshit Kumar, a 2020-batch Haryana IAS officer. In November 2022, Renu Sogan, a West Bengal cadre IAS officer, transferred to Haryana following her marriage to 2019-batch IAS officer Hitesh Meena.
On the IPS and IFoS side, the movement is identical.
Kaanchi Singhal, a 2022-batch officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, was transferred to Haryana after her marriage to IPS officer Harshit Goel. Before her, 2017-batch IFoS officer Arsh Verma moved from the West Bengal cadre after his marriage to 2018-batch IPS officer Nikita Khattar. Amrinder Singh, a 2021-batch IPS officer, moved from UP to Haryana in March 2024 following his marriage to Ruhani, a 2023-batch IAS officer.
Precedents stretch back further.
In February 2022, Dr Balpreet Singh, a 2019-batch IAS officer serving as Sub-Collector in Palakkad, Kerala, secured a transfer to Haryana after his marriage to Upasana, a 2017-batch IPS officer already established in the state.
His home state is Punjab, which meant the home-state bar did not apply; both the Kerala and Haryana governments consented before the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) approved the move.
Earlier still, in May 2015, DoPT issued a gazette notification transferring Parth Gupta, a 2013-batch IAS officer from the AGMUT cadre—comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories—to Haryana following his marriage to Astha Modi, a 2013-batch IPS officer already serving there.
The double transfer
An oddity in Haryana’s matrimonial ledger belongs to 2015-batch IAS officer Rahul Hooda, whose original cadre was Himachal Pradesh. In 2015, Hooda transferred to Haryana following his first marriage to Manisha Choudhary, a 2011-batch IPS officer of the Haryana cadre.
The couple got divorced and he subsequently married Neha Singh, a 2015-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer. Singh too made this journey, with her transfer approved in December 2021.
In effect, one officer’s two marriages brought three careers under a single state’s administrative roof.
Haryana, it turns out, also benefits from second chances.
The more complicated routes
Not every case resolves cleanly.
Ajit Balaji Joshi, a 2003-batch IAS officer, was in the Haryana cadre. His wife Gauri Prashar, a 2009-batch officer, had been allotted to Odisha. A straightforward spousal transfer might have seemed in order—except that Prashar had declared Haryana as her home state on her UPSC form, which barred her from transferring there. She had never actually lived, studied or worked in the state.
The couple approached the Central Administrative Tribunal, which directed the central government to consider their case. The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, eventually cut the knot—by moving both officers to Punjab instead.
Then there is Pari Bishnoi, a Sikkim cadre IAS officer married to former MLA Bhavya Bishnoi. Since direct inter-cadre transfer does not apply to her situation—her spouse is not an All India Service officer—she applied instead for deputation to Haryana.
The Sikkim government, following her marriage, resolved the matter differently: it posted her in Delhi as deputy resident commissioner. A different instrument, and a different address, but the general direction of travel was the same. The Bishnoi family, which has its roots in Hisar’s Adampur, lives in Delhi.
Not just Haryana
Haryana may be a sought-after destination, but it is not the only one.
“For instance, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat are considered top preferences by civil servants because of better infrastructure. AGMUT is a popular choice too, particularly for IPS officers, as it includes Delhi and is generally considered to have a good work-life balance. Similarly, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are also considered good choices,” an IAS officer told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
But, the officer added, many civil servants from North India prefer Haryana because of its proximity to the national capital, its tranquility and economic resources.
(Edited by Prerna Madan)
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