Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao became the latest chief minister to oppose the Centre's proposed amendments to the All India Services (Cadre) Rules 1954, arguing that the existing provisions are adequate to ensure harmonious and balanced deployment of officers.

Rao stated in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday that the proposed amendments "violate the federal structure of our Constitution both in letter and spirit."

He wrote that the proposed amendments will also seriously erode the All-India Service character of the IAS, IPS, and IFS.

"As a result, the Telangana State Government strongly opposes the proposed amendments," Rao wrote. Given the importance of the functions performed by AIS officers in the states, the current rule position and practice calls for the concurrence of state governments in matters of officer deputation to the Central Government. The proposed amendment seeks to unilaterally alter the above position, with the Central Government assuming the authority to deputize officers without the consent of the officers or the state government concerned.

"This is a risky move that contradicts the constitutional framework and spirit of cooperative federalism." If the proposed amendments are implemented by the Government of India, state governments will be reduced to minor entities.

Rao stated that the proposal is a move by the Centre to exercise indirect control over officers working in states; it amounts to interfering in the functions of state governments; it is targeted harassment and demoralization of officers, and it has an impact on officers' accountability to state governments.

"The proposed amendment is nothing more than amending the Constitution of India relating to Centre-state relations," he wrote. Instead of using a backdoor method to change the AIS rules, the Government of India should muster the courage to amend the provision through Parliament. The proposed amendments jeopardize the spirit of mutual adjustment and accommodation between states and the central government in the matter of shared AIS and will strain the center-state relationship."