Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has issued fresh guidelines on the transfer and posting of government employees in a bid to ensure transparency, uniformity and administrative efficiency across departments.
In a notification issued by the General Administration and Public Grievance Department, the state government has reiterated and strengthened the existing transfer policy for government servants.
The order, numbered 16068 (e)/Gen. dated May 22, 2026, addresses inconsistencies observed in the implementation of transfer rules over the years. The notification references the old Book Circular No. 42 dated 18.04.1967 and subsequent instructions, noting that these provisions were not being followed uniformly.
According to the guidelines, transfers should normally be carried out between April 15 and June 15 every year. Any transfers required outside this period will need approval from the next higher authority.
The policy states that officers should ordinarily be transferred after completion of three years in a station, though they can be transferred earlier if it is considered necessary in the public interest. Group A and Group B officers of the State Cadre shall not be allowed to remain in a particular district for more than six years, while Group C category employees shall not remain in a particular Block or Tehsil for more than six years.
The guidelines further specify that posting of officers in their home districts should ordinarily be avoided, particularly in sensitive posts belonging to Group A and Group B. A list of sensitive posts, as indicated in an earlier circular, has been attached for reference.
However, officers completing six years of continuous service in the KBK region may be considered for posting to their home districts or any other preferred district, subject to the restrictions on sensitive posts. Similarly, husband and wife both working under the State Government may be posted in one station wherever feasible.
For officers in non-transferable services such as Ministerial cadres in the Secretariat and Heads of Departments, no one shall remain in a seat for more than three years, except under special circumstances.
The notification also directs that transfer orders should clearly indicate which officer will relieve whom and specify the relieving and joining time. Any of the principles mentioned can be relaxed only in public interest, on administrative grounds, or in genuine hardship cases, with reasons to be recorded in writing.
The government has asked all departments to follow these instructions scrupulously and has allowed them to frame or update their own transfer policies in conformity with these basic principles to address specific functional requirements.
