As one walks down the Hill along the Rajpath, now renamed Kartavya Path, come other edifices — Rail Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, Shashtri Bhavan, and Kartavya Bhavan on one side and Sena Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, and Vanijya Bhavan on the other. The bureaucrats who adorn the offices in these buildings decide on India's economic, social, and industrial policies. There are many tales to be told from the corridors of these grandiose buildings. We let you in on some of them here in this week's edition of "Inside Raisina Hill".

IRS (IT) Association Reconstituted

The All-India Association of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) – Income Tax (IT) has been reconstituted following the elections of new office bearers. The members of the Association elected 1998-batch IRS officer Banita Devi Naorem as the President, 2000-batch officer Deepshikha Sharma as the General Secretary and 2020-batch Ankur Jain as the Joint General Secretary.

The newly elected office bearers of the Association recently met the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ravi Agrawal, who is a 1988-batch IRS officer, members Sanjay Bahadur, a 1989-batch IRS officer, and Mona Singh, a 1990-batch IRS officer, for officially intimating them about the elections and presented a copy of Kautilya’s ‘The Arthashastra’ to each of them.

The All-India IRS Association represents Group A officers of the Income Tax Department and serves as a professional body for welfare, career development, and policy feedback to the government. 

Padma Shri For Ex-Bureaucrats 

On the eve of Republic Day this year, the government announced a list of 113 names who have been accorded the Padma Shri award. Among them were two former bureaucrats — K. Vijay Kumar, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1975 batch, and former Under Secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) R.V.S. Mani, an officer who belonged to the Central Secretariat Service (CSS).

The award was accorded to K. Vijay Kumar, who led the operation to neutralise and end the terror of dreaded brigand Veerappan under Operation Cocoon. R.V.S. Mani received the recognition for his role in exposing the ‘Hindu Terror’ bogey by presenting an insider account in a book written by him.

K. Vijay Kumar had served as the Director General (DG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and had headed the Tamil Nadu Police Special Task Force (STF) that killed Veerappan. He retired from service in 2012 and is known for his expertise in jungle warfare and counterinsurgency. He is being awarded for being a “key architect” of strategic policing and major operations against Naxals and Veerappan.

Wage, Pension Revision

The Union government has given its nod to proposals relating to wage revision for Public Sector General Insurance companies (PSGICs) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Additionally, it has also approved pension revision for retirees of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The wage revision for the employees of PSGICs will be effective from August 1, 2022. The overall hike in wage bill shall be 12.41 percent with an increase of 14 percent on existing basic pay and Dearness Allowance (DA).  A total of 43,247 PSGIC employees will benefit from this revision. The revision also incorporates an enhancement in NPS contribution from 10 percent to 14 percent for a better future of employees, who had joined after April 1, 2010.

For NABARD employees the revision is going to be effective from November 1, 2022 and the hike in pay and allowances is going to be about 20 percent for all Group ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ employees. It would benefit around 3,800 serving and former employees.

For those, who have retired from RBI, the Government has approved the revision of pension and family pension which will get enhanced by 10 percent on basic pension plus Dearness Relief (DR), with effect from November 1, 2022. This would result in an effective enhancement of basic pension by a factor of 1.43 for all retirees, leading to a substantial improvement in their monthly pension. The revision will benefit a total of 30,769 beneficiaries, comprising 22,580 pensioners and 8,189 family pensioners.

Compulsory iGOT Course

In the notification the government has mandated for all Central Government employees and officers of the All India Services (AIS) to complete courses, as prescribed by the respective Ministries/Departments/Cadre Controlling Authorities, on Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) annually and that this would also be reflected in their Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs).

In the notification it is said that a course titled “Improving Outreach and Communication for Viksit Bharat” has been accorded mandatory status for the APAR Cycle 2025-26 for all officers of level of Deputy Secretary to Special Secretary to the Government of India posted in Central Ministries/Departments/Organisations (MDOs).

It is said that the course has been developed by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and is available on the iGOT Karmayogi platform and it highlights the pivotal role of strategic communication in augmenting governance, transparency and public trust by elucidating how effective messaging on policies and schemes enhances citizen understanding and facilitates implementation.

It also underscored the need for citizen-centric, structured communication going beyond routine announcements, with a pronounced emphasis on digital media, visual storytelling and audience-specific outreach.

SIR Violations

The Election Commission (EC) of India has asked the West Bengal government to withdraw the transfer and posting orders of three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers with immediate effect for them being engaged as Electoral Roll Observers and asserted that the state government’s action violated explicit instructions issued during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In a stern reminder to the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, the poll panel said that the officers were transferred without its prior approval, despite clear directions that no official associated with the SIR exercise should be moved during the period when the revision is being conducted. It described the state government’s action as a direct violation of its instructions.

“It has come to the Commission’s notice that the Government of West Bengal has ordered departmental transfers/postings of Electoral Roll Observers without prior concurrence of the Commission, which is in violation of the EC’s instructions,” the letter, a copy of which is with The Secretariat, read.

The EC has also directed the state government to cancel the transfer orders “forthwith” and cautioned that prior approval from it must be obtained before issuing any such orders in the future.

The West Bengal government had issued transfer and posting notifications on December 1, 2025, January 20, 2026 and January 21, 2026. These orders affected three IAS officers, including Ashwini Kumar Yadav, who was serving as Electoral Roll Observer for Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur; Randhir Kumar, assigned to North 24 Parganas and Kolkata North and Smita Pandey, responsible for Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Bardhaman and Birbhum.

The EC recalled that it had formally announced the SIR in West Bengal through a letter dated October 27, 2025. Paragraph 4 of that communication explicitly mandated chief secretaries to ensure that officials engaged in the exercise were not transferred without their consent.

Emphasising the seriousness of the matter, the EC reiterated that such actions could disrupt the integrity and continuity of the electoral roll revision process and asked the West Bengal government to submit a compliance report by 3 pm on January 28, 2026.