Inside Raisina Hill: IPS Officers’ Retirement, Fake Call Alert, & Insurance For Defence Personnel

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".

10 IPS Officers Set To Retire In February

Ten Indian Police Service (IPS) officers belonging to different cadres and batches are set to retire by this month, marking an end to illustrious careers, spanning decades, in maintaining law and order, implementing crucial policies, and strengthening the policing framework across the country.

Those retiring officers include Sanjay Bharti (AP cadre), Prem Kumar Thakur (HP cadre), Anshuman Singh (MP cadre), and Sanjeev Kalra (Punjab cadre).

From the Uttar Pradesh cadre, Manmohan Kumar Bashal and Bikash Kumar Baidya are set to retire, and Debasish Roy and Jacqueline Dorjee from the West Bengal cadre. The retiring officers also include Dipesh Juneja of the Uttarakhand cadre.

The officers from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal cadres were actively involved in state-level policing reforms, while those from Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have contributed to maintaining law and order during critical periods.

Indian Army, Yes Bank Renew Ties

The Indian Army and private sector lender Yes Bank have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide comprehensive banking services and insurance benefits to defence personnel. The renewed agreement will be effective for three years, till February 2029, ensuring continued welfare support for serving personnel, including Agniveers, and ex-soldiers.

All of them will be provided with ₹1 crore Personal Accidental Insurance coverage.

Under the renewed MoU, all serving personnel, including Agniveers, will be covered under a competitive Personal Accidental Insurance (PAI) of ₹1 crore. Yes Bank will also provide Air Accident Insurance (AAI) of ₹1 crore, along with ₹10 lakh cover for death due to acts of terrorism, a higher education grant of ₹5 lakh, and a girl child cover of up to ₹5 lakh.

In October 2025, the Indian Army had signed MoU with 11 banks, including SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bandhan Bank, and Yes Bank, to provide dedicated banking facilities to Agniveers immediately upon enrollment.

This initiative aims to simplify financial access and strengthen welfare for the newly enrolled personnel.

Fake Calls, Messages: Railways Sounds Caution

Indian Railways has advised its retired personnel to remain cautious about cyberattacks via phone calls and SMS, amid cyber fraudsters targeting retired personnel under the Pension Payment Order (PPO) updation and KYC verification.

In a public notice, Indian Railways said that “certain cyber fraudsters are making fake phone calls and sending SMS/WhatsApp messages in the name of Railway officials, seeking personal and financial details on the pretext of PPO updates, KYC verification, and additional pension benefits, among others."

The notice further read, “Pensioners are hereby informed that the organisation does not send links or messages for updating PPO or service records. No Railway official is authorised to seek bank details, OTPs, passwords or any confidential information through phone calls, SMS, WhatsApp, or social media.”

Full-Time DGP For Telangana

Following a Supreme Court directive, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has officially initiated the process to appoint a full-time Director General of Police (DGP) for Telangana.

The UPSC has written to the state government, seeking a list of officers eligible for the position, officials said.

B. Shivadhar Reddy, the current DGP in charge, is set to retire at the end of April, and speculation is rife about whether or not his name would be included in the panel of eligible officers. 

The state government has been instructed to submit the list of eligible officers as soon as possible.

The Supreme Court’s order stressed that UPSC would determine the eligibility of officers and decide their merit for empanelment. Currently, Telangana has six officers holding the DGP rank. This includes C.V. Anand, B. Shivadhar Reddy, Prabhakar Apte, Sowmya Mishra, Shikha Goel, and Abhilasha Bisht. The UPSC will shortlist three officers from the panel for final consideration.