transfers.fyiतबादला

How we count

There is no official all-India table of transfers per officer. Counts here come from two places: figures reported in the press, usually quoting the officer or their service record, and postings listed in the Department of Personnel and Training's executive record sheets. The two often disagree, because a "transfer" can mean a new post, an additional charge, or a move on paper that never took effect. Where sources differ we show the range.

Candidates came from press compilations (Jagran Josh, Dynamite News, eSakal), TOI's 2013 analysis of 2,139 ER sheets, NIE 2015, and targeted searches per state. Every count and episode was checked against a page we actually fetched (news, Wikipedia via its API, official gazettes; Wayback Machine where the live site blocked us). The main list includes only IAS officers with a published transfer count, sorted by that count. Separately, `ers_postings` counts experience rows in DoPT's SUPREMO Executive Record Sheets (Vonter/india-ias-officers scrape, Sep 2026): `rows` = all rows (includes additional charges and in-place promotions); `office_changes` = rows whose office/location differs from the previous row, in chronological order. The dataset was also used to find high-count officers the press missed (see NOTES.md).

Counts come from press reports and from RTI replies as reported in the press; see NOTES.md. Ranges hold the lowest and highest published figures. Where a count is the officer's own, transfers.self_reported is true. Lore entries cite primary documents (court and tribunal orders, inquiry reports, RTI replies) where we could read them, and say what happened to the underlying matter after the transfer.

Counts are as reported by the press, or as claimed by the officers themselves, at the date in `as_of`. They are not official figures and are not comparable across officers: some count every order including additional charges, some include pre-IAS state-service years, and some cover only part of a career. There is no official all-India ranking. A transfer is not evidence of wrongdoing or of victimisation; `reported_reason` records what the cited outlet reported or the officer alleged.

Reading the ribbon

Each career, rise or exit is drawn as one ribbon through its dated events. An event is documentedwhen a primary document (an order, judgment, report or RTI reply) or at least two independent reports carry it; the ribbon there is solid and the knot filled. When only one report carries it, the ribbon thins to a hairline and the knot is hollow. Stretches with nothing on record are grey thread. Two events more than four years apart are never tied by ribbon, however well each is documented.

Why an officer was moved

Governments rarely give reasons for a transfer. The reasons on this site are the ones reported at the time, linked to the report. They are attributed, not asserted: a reported reason is what journalists, the officer, or others said, not a finding of fact.

Photos

Each photo's source and licence is listed on the officer's page.

No official all-India list of transfers per officer exists for any service. Counts are from different years and different methods and are not directly comparable. Allegations are attributed to the people who made them; the government's stated reason is given where one was found.

Counts from RTI replies

Several Uttar Pradesh police officers are ranked only on figures from replies to Right to Information requests, as reported by newspapers. Those replies list the number of postings, not the reasons. Their place in the register is a count, not a story. Where the record is missing, we have drafted RTI requests to fill it.

Well known, but not counted

These officers are known for contested transfers, but no career count has been published.

Fast track

Officers whose rise to the head of a department or institution came unusually fast or with unusual handling (extensions beyond rule limits, appointments within days of VRS or retirement, laws or rules changed to permit the appointment, court-questioned selection). Every timeline step carries a source; judgments and official notifications preferred; contested claims attributed. No editorial adjectives. See NOTES.md.

The fast-track list is kept apart from the transfer register: it measures how quickly or how unusually an officer rose, not how often they were moved. The figures are intervals between dated, sourced events, such as retirement and reappointment. These are documented facts placed side by side. Nothing here asserts or implies wrongdoing by any officer. Acquittals, dismissed petitions and clean chits are recorded alongside adverse findings.

Data compiled 2026-10-30T16:48:06Z.