Part VIII · The State
Chapter 32
The Civil Services
32.1Scope
The officers who run the State.1
The arena is measured by control of postings (by the Union, and by state governments over IAS and IPS officers in their cadres), discounted by the documented lean of the senior service against Hindutva-aligned positions.
32.2Significance
Speed of implementation, leaks, obstruction. Borrowed power that leaves when the BJP leaves office.
32.3Indicators and weights
Table 32.1 lists the 1 indicators of the arena, the weight of each within the arena, and each indicator’s reading (the Hindutva-aligned share, from 0 to 100).
Table 32.1. Indicators of arena 7.4
| Indicator | Weight | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Control of postings × (1 − opposing actors drag) | 1.00 | 56.5 |
| Arena reading | 1.00 | 56.5 |
32.4Reading
The arena reads 56.5, 6.5 points above parity, and is classified as contested (a reading from 45 to below 60). With a weight of 1 of a total 107.7, it contributes 0.52 points to the composite reading of 45.7.
050100
Control of postings × (1 − opposing actors drag)56.5
Arena reading56.5
Hindutva-alignedOpposed
Each bar divides the indicator between Hindutva-aligned (left) and opposed (right) holdings. The vertical rule marks parity.
32.5Measures and exhibits
The exhibits below are the Atlas’s own views of the data behind each measure: shares by side, the largest units, breakdowns by source, recipient and country, money-flow diagrams and time series. Full row-level ledgers are in the data file (Appendix D).
Measure 1. Control of postings × (1 − Opposed drag)
Reading 56.5%
0.5 × Union postings (100) + 0.5 × IAS/IPS officers in NDA-run cadres, × (1 − drag 35.5%). Drag = 0.5 (share of decisions left to officers, assumed) × 71% Opposed lean of documented acts.
BJP CM 73.4 % · 73.4%NDA ally 4.34 % · 4.3%INDIA bloc 14.5 % · 14.5%Other party 7.74 % · 7.7%
Data table
| % | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| BJP CM | 73.4 | 73.4% |
| NDA ally | 4.34 | 4.3% |
| INDIA bloc | 14.5 | 14.5% |
| Other party | 7.74 | 7.7% |
BJP CMNDA allyINDIA blocOther party
Data table
| % | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 17.1 | BJP CM |
| Bihar | 9.29 | BJP CM |
| Maharashtra | 9.08 | BJP CM |
| West Bengal | 7.06 | BJP CM |
| Madhya Pradesh | 6.3 | BJP CM |
| Rajasthan | 5.88 | BJP CM |
| Tamil Nadu | 5.45 | Other party |
| Gujarat | 5.2 | BJP CM |
| Karnataka | 4.84 | INDIA bloc |
| Andhra Pradesh | 3.77 | NDA ally |
| Odisha | 3.14 | BJP CM |
| Jharkhand | 2.88 | INDIA bloc |
| Telangana | 2.71 | INDIA bloc |
| Assam | 2.58 | BJP CM |
| Kerala | 2.54 | INDIA bloc |
| Haryana | 2.2 | BJP CM |
| Punjab | 2.2 | Other party |
| Chhattisgarh | 2.19 | BJP CM |
| Delhi (NCT) | 1.58 | BJP CM |
| Jammu and Kashmir (UT) | 0.98 | INDIA bloc |
| Uttarakhand | 0.84 | BJP CM |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0.53 | INDIA bloc |
| Tripura | 0.3 | BJP CM |
| Meghalaya | 0.24 | NDA ally |
| Manipur | 0.23 | BJP CM |
| Nagaland | 0.16 | NDA ally |
| Puducherry (UT) | 0.12 | NDA ally |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0.11 | BJP CM |
| Goa | 0.11 | BJP CM |
| Mizoram | 0.09 | Other party |
Hindutva-aligned 7,638 officers in position · 75.1%Opposed 2,533 officers in position · 24.9%Transactional 0 officers in position · 0.0%Neutral / not counted 0 officers in position · 0.0%
Data table
| officers in position | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Hindutva-aligned | 7,638 | 75.1% |
| Opposed | 2,533 | 24.9% |
| Transactional | 0 | 0.0% |
| Neutral / not counted | 0 | 0.0% |
Hindutva-alignedOpposed
Data table
| officers in position | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| IAS Uttar Pradesh cadre | 571 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IPS Uttar Pradesh cadre | 510 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IPS AGMUT cadre | 427 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS AGMUT cadre | 406 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Madhya Pradesh cadre | 391 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Maharashtra cadre | 359 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Tamil Nadu cadre | 343 | Opposed |
| IPS West Bengal cadre | 319 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IPS Maharashtra cadre | 306 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Bihar cadre | 303 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS West Bengal cadre | 303 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Karnataka cadre | 273 | Opposed |
| IPS Madhya Pradesh cadre | 271 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Rajasthan cadre | 268 | Hindutva-aligned |
| IAS Gujarat cadre | 255 | Hindutva-aligned |
Hindutva-aligned 53 number of appointments · 79.1%Opposed 13 number of appointments · 19.4%Transactional 0 number of appointments · 0.0%Neutral / not counted 1 number of appointments · 1.5%
Data table
| number of appointments | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Hindutva-aligned | 53 | 79.1% |
| Opposed | 13 | 19.4% |
| Transactional | 0 | 0.0% |
| Neutral / not counted | 1 | 1.5% |
Data table
| number of appointments | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| Lateral entry: Kakoli Ghosh (Joint Secretary, Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Amber Dubey (Joint Secretary, Civil Aviation) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Arun Goel (Joint Secretary, Commerce) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Rajeev Saksena (Joint Secretary, Economic Affairs) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Sujit Kumar Bajpayee (Joint Secretary, Environment, Forest & Climate Change) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Saurabh Mishra (Joint Secretary, Financial Services) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale (Joint Secretary, New & Renewable Energy) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Suman Prasad Singh (Joint Secretary, Road Transport & Highways) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Bhushan Kumar (Joint Secretary, Shipping) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Samuel Praveen Kumar (Joint Secretary, Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Manish Chadha (Joint Secretary, Commerce) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Balasubramanian Krishnamurthy (Joint Secretary, Revenue) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Kapil Ashok Bendre (Director, Agriculture (Agriculture Marketing)) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Neeraj Gaba (Director, Commerce (Exports Marketing)) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Lateral entry: Sagar Rameshrao Kadu (Director, Commerce (Logistics)) | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
Data table
| number of records | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| Iyer & Mani (2012), "Traveling Agents: Political Change and Bureaucratic Turnover in India", Review of Economics and | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Iyer & Mani (2012) - numeric estimates | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Bertrand, Burgess, Chawla & Xu (2020), "The Glittering Prizes: Career Incentives and Bureaucrat Performance", Review of | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| IAS officers on Central Deputation Reserve | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Proposed amendment to IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954, Rule 6 (central deputation without state consent) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Delhi services: SC Constitution Bench (11 May 2023) then GNCTD (Amendment) Ordinance (19 May 2023) and Act (Aug 2023) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Prakash Singh v Union of India (SC, 2006) police reform directions; T.S.R. Subramanian v Union of India (SC, 2013) on | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Durga Shakti Nagpal (IAS, UP) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS, Gujarat) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Alapan Bandyopadhyay (IAS, West Bengal) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Three IPS officers (Bholanath Pandey, Praveen Tripathi, Rajeev Mishra) - Nadda convoy incident | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Rajeev Kumar (IPS, Kolkata Police Commissioner) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| T. P. Senkumar (IPS, Kerala DGP) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| Jacob Thomas (IPS, Kerala) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
| A. B. Venkateswara Rao (IPS, Andhra Pradesh) | 1 | Neutral / not counted |
Data table
| transfers in career | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| Ashok Khemka (IAS, Haryana) | 57 | Neutral / not counted |
| U. Sagayam (IAS, Tamil Nadu) | 26 | Neutral / not counted |
| Tukaram Mundhe (IAS, Maharashtra) | 25 | Neutral / not counted |
Data table
| letters | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2020 | 16 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2026 | 15 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2021 | 13 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2023 | 13 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2024 | 12 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2019 | 11 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2025 | 11 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2018 | 9 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2022 | 7 | Opposed |
| Constitutional Conduct Group open letters 2017 | 2 | Opposed |
Data table
| signatories | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| 272 eminent citizens letter defending ECI vs "vote chori" campaign (19 Nov 2025) | 272 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Counter-letter on UP anti-conversion ordinance (Jan 2021) | 224 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Forum of Concerned Citizens counter-letter vs CCG "politics of hate" letter (Apr 2022) | 197 | Hindutva-aligned |
| 42 former judges letter defending ECI/SIR (8 Oct 2026) | 42 | Hindutva-aligned |
Hindutva-aligned 30 officer · 54.5%Opposed 25 officer · 45.5%Transactional 0 officer · 0.0%Neutral / not counted 0 officer · 0.0%
Data table
| officer | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Hindutva-aligned | 30 | 54.5% |
| Opposed | 25 | 45.5% |
| Transactional | 0 | 0.0% |
| Neutral / not counted | 0 | 0.0% |
Hindutva-alignedOpposed
Data table
| officer | Side | |
|---|---|---|
| Raj Kumar Singh | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Satya Pal Singh | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Aparajita Sarangi | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Hardeep Singh Puri | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| S. Jaishankar | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Ashwini Vaishnaw | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Alphons Kannanthanam | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| A. K. Sharma | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| K. Annamalai | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| V. K. Singh | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Brijlal | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Asim Arun | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Rajeshwar Singh | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| O. P. Choudhary | 1 | Hindutva-aligned |
| Mani Shankar Aiyar | 1 | Opposed |
32.6Evidence base
The arena rests on 221 coded units. Of the units and flows, 128 are coded Hindutva-aligned, 63 opposed and 30 neutral, mixed or transactional. By source grade: 64 grade A, 4 grade B, 148 grade C, 1 grade D, 4 grade E.
The full set of rows for this arena, each with its source, is in the Atlas data file (Appendix D).
Notes
- CCG letters; DoPT. ↩