SRINAGAR: Fourteen serving officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) have been cleared for induction into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking their consent before issuing the formal notification.
According to information reported by Daily Excelsior, the General Administration Department (GAD) of the Jammu and Kashmir administration has received communication from the MHA and DoPT in this regard.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), at its two-day meeting in New Delhi on April 23 and 24, 2026, cleared the induction of 14 serving JKAS officers into the IAS against identified vacancies.
Official sources told Daily Excelsior that the officers’ consent has been sought because an officer cleared for induction may choose not to join the IAS.
The 14 officers cleared for induction, subject to their consent, are Babila Rakwal, Shabnam Kamili, Rachna Sharma, Leena Padha, Rajinder Singh Tara, Tariq Hussain Ganai, Munir Ul Islam, Sajjad Hussain Ganai, Anoo Malhotra, Nitu Gupta, Prediman Krishen Bhat, Bhawani Rakwal, Smita Sethi and Anuradha Gupta.
Sources said there were 23 vacancies available for induction of JKAS officers into the IAS. Of these, nine vacancies relating to retired JKAS officers will be carried forward to the next year, allowing eligible JKAS officers to be considered against those vacancies along with any additional posts that become available or fall due.
After receiving the consent of the 14 officers, the GAD will forward the responses to the MHA and DoPT. The two departments will then issue the formal induction notification and allot the respective induction years against the available vacancies.
Daily Excelsior reported that the majority of the officers have been cleared against vacancies for 2019, while the remaining officers have been considered against vacancies for 2020.
Following induction, the officers will be allocated the AGMUT cadre. The cadre comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.
The UPSC meeting in April was attended by senior officials of the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the MHA and considered the proposal for induction of JKAS officers against vacancies identified for 2019 and 2020.
The latest exercise comes nearly four years after the previous induction of JKAS officers into the IAS. On August 4, 2022, 16 JKAS officers were inducted into the IAS.
Earlier, 28 JKAS officers had been cleared for induction on July 8, 2022. However, 11 were subsequently dropped from the process—eight after their retirement, two after they declined induction and one following his death. The case of another officer was kept in a sealed cover.
The induction of JKAS officers into the IAS had remained stalled for nearly 12 years, from 2010 to 2022, amid seniority disputes and legal hurdles.
