15 Additional Deputy Commissioner posts earmarked for senior HCS officers, but only 8 occupied; IAS officers holding ADC charge in 14 districts despite cadre allocation of just 8 posts
Face2News/Chandigarh
A significant administrative imbalance has surfaced in Haryana over the posting of Additional Deputy Commissioners (ADCs), with the State Government facing questions over whether it is adhering to its own cadre policy.
According to the existing cadre structure, 15 of Haryana’s 23 district ADC posts are earmarked for senior Haryana Civil Service (HCS) officers, while only 8 posts are meant for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. However, the current ground reality presents a strikingly different picture.
At present, only eight districts have HCS officers serving as ADCs, whereas IAS officers are functioning as ADCs in as many as 14 districts, nearly double the number of posts allocated to their cadre.
Calling the situation a case of “institutional discrimination” against senior HCS officers, Hemant Kumar, an advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court known for closely tracking Haryana’s administrative affairs, alleged that the State Government is failing to implement the spirit of its own cadre allocation policy.
Ambala Order Triggers Fresh Debate
The issue gained prominence after the Haryana Government’s Personnel Department, through an order dated July 7, relieved 2011-batch HCS officer Virat of the additional charge of ADC-cum-DCRIO, Ambala.
Virat has been serving as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister for nearly three years and had been given additional charge of Ambala ADC in December 2025.However, despite relieving him of the assignment, no new ADC has been appointed in Ambala so far, reducing the number of districts with HCS officers serving as ADCs to just eight.
Cadre Rules vs Ground Reality
Hemant pointed out that the Haryana Government’s HCS Cadre Strength Notification issued in December 2025 clearly earmarks 15 district ADC posts for the HCS cadre.These posts are intended for senior HCS officers in the Selection Grade, Super Time Scale, or officers with 9 to 18 years or more of service.
Despite this, only the following eight districts presently have HCS officers serving as ADCs:
Jhajjar, Fatehabad, Yamunanagar.Jind. Kaithal, Hisar, Sonipat, Mahendragarhm The HCS officers currently holding these posts belong largely to the 2002, 2004 and 2011 batches.
According to Hemant, eligible HCS officers are available in adequate numbers, and even officers up to the 2016 batch are eligible for consideration for ADC postings. He argues that continuing to place IAS officers in posts earmarked for HCS officers defeats the very objective of maintaining a balanced cadre structure.
IAS Officers Occupying 14 ADC Posts
The anomaly becomes sharper when viewed against the IAS Cadre Strength Order issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Government of India, in June 2026, which earmarks only eight ADC posts for IAS officers in Haryana. These posts are meant for officers in the Senior Time Scale, generally after completion of four years of service.However,
IAS officers are currently serving as ADCs in 14 districts, including:
Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Rewari, Gurugram, Kurukshetra, Hansi, Panchkula, Rohtak, Faridabad, Panipat
Sirsa. Karnal, Nuh, Palwal Most of these officers belong to the 2020, 2021 and 2022 IAS batches.
Second Most Powerful District Post
The office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner is regarded as the second most important executive position in district administration after the Deputy Commissioner. Every district headquarters in Haryana has a sanctioned ADC post, and the officer simultaneously functions as the District Citizen Resources Information Officer (DCRIO).
The Core Question
The controversy raises a fundamental administrative question:
If Haryana’s approved cadre structure reserves 15 ADC posts for HCS officers and only eight for IAS officers, why are HCS officers occupying only eight districts while IAS officers are serving in fourteen?
Hemant has urged the State Government to realign ADC postings with the approved cadre framework, arguing that continued deviation not only undermines the purpose of cadre management but also adversely affects the career progression and administrative opportunities available to senior HCS officers.
