17 top Haryana IAS, IPS officers to retire this year amid administrative crisis

There is a shortfall of 42 IAS officers in Haryana.

Seventeen top officers, including 13 IAS and four IPS officers, in the Haryana Government are set to retire this year, further deepening the bureaucratic crisis in the state, which is already grappling with a shortage of hands.

The prominent officers among those retiring are Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, who has been granted a one-year service extension, Arun Kumar Gupta, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Haryana, and former DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur (1990 batch), who is retiring on October 31, according to the gradation list of the government. Kapur is currently the chairman of Haryana Police Housing Corporation

Other IPS officers retiring this year are Sanjeev Kumar Jain (1991 batch), retiring on September 30; Hardeep Singh Doon (1998 batch), retiring on May 31; and Dr Rajshree Singh (1999 batch), retiring on July 31.

Seniormost IAS officer Sudhir Rajpal (1990 batch); Additional Chief Secretaries Raja Shekhar Vundru (1990 batch); Abhilaksh Likhi (1991 batch), Secretary to the Government of India; and D Suresh (1995 batch), Principal Secretary are the other IAS officers in the retirement list.

While Anurag Rastogi is set to retire on June 30, Vundru on July 31, and D Suresh on August 31, Gupta will retire on September 30, and Likhi on November 30. Others include Mukesh Kumar Ahuja (2009) on March 31, Jasbir Arya (2009) on April 30, Virender Lather (2014) on April 30, Pradeep Kumar (2011) on June 30, Anita Yadav (2004) on September 30, Sanjay Joon (2003) on October 31, and Geeta Bharti (2005) on November 30.

At least 12 IAS officers of the Haryana cadre are already on deputation with the Central Government. Haryana has a sanctioned IAS cadre strength of 225 posts, out of which 183 IAS officers are currently in service – already there is a shortfall of 42 IAS officers compared to the sanctioned strength of the cadre.

At present, V Umashankar and Abhilaksh Likhi of the 1991 batch; Deepti Umashankar, Sukriti Likhi, and Neerja Shekhar of the 1993 batch; Nitin Kumar Yadav of the 2000 batch; Vikas Gupta and Pankaj Yadav of the 2001 batch; and Nikhil Gajraj of the 2008 batch are on deputation with the Central Government. Similarly, Sharandeep Kaur Brar of the 2009 batch and Dr Garima Mittal of the 2010 batch are also serving with the Central Government.

IAS officer Ramesh Chandra Bidhan of the 2005 batch retired on December 31, 2025. “Although Haryana has recently received six new IAS officers, the retirement of 13 IAS officers this year will definitely have an impact on administrative work. Currently, many senior IAS officers are holding multiple departments; in several cases, three to four departments,” a senior officer told The Indian Express.

As per rules, 67 per cent of IAS posts are filled through direct recruitment and about 33 per cent through promotion. Accordingly, 66 IAS posts in the state are to be filled through promotion, but despite the acute shortage of IAS officers, several promotion quota posts remain vacant. A Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officer becomes eligible for promotion to IAS after completing eight years of service and having five years of good Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs).