Question : POSTING OF IFS OFFICERS ABROAD

(a) whether a large number of officers of Indian Foreign Services always remain posted out of the country;

(b) if so, whether such officers and their children are not aware about the social, economic, geographical, political developments in the country;

(c) if so, whether the government has framed a policy regarding posting of officers of IFS to ensure opportunity to all officers for region-wise posting in foreign countries and their posting in India;

(d) if so, the details of such policy; and

(e) the details of officers who have been posted outside India during most of their service period, alongwith their names, names of countries where posted and the tenure of posting in each country?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI ANAND SHARMA)

(a) to (e) By virtue of the fact that a number of cadre posts of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers are located in Indian Missions and Posts abroad, a number of IFS officers are posted abroad at any point of time. However, a particular officer never remains posted abroad always. Instead, a rotation policy is followed wherein an officer is posted back to Headquarters after spending some time abroad, depending on the rank of the officer, requirement of officers abroad and the availability of suitable posts at Headquarters. Even when IFS officers are posted abroad, they maintain close contact with developments in India through the media, Indian magazines and newspapers and other methods, including through periodic visits to India.

Posting of officers is done on administrative exigencies, taking into account a variety of factors including functional skills, language specialization, seniority, profile of previous postings and other related factors. Efforts are made to ensure that each officer is able to gain exposure to a variety of work in different locations, taking into account the individual interests and specializations.