The Kerala Govt on Wednesday promoted five senior IAS officers to the Principal Secretary Grade (HAG). They are Dr. Usha Titus, Puneet Kumar, Dr. D K Dhodawat, Dr. Rajan Khobragde and K Ravindran Jyothilal. Reportedly, the promoted officers will get their new grade on completion of 25 years of service i.e. 01 January 2018. It may be underlined the All India Service Rules does not define the time frame for promotion to the HAG grade and the matter rests entirely in the hands of the state governments that decide the issue on the basis of vacancies. However, an executive advisory issued to state governments by DoPT in 2004 states that the officers should be given the HAG grade on completion of 25 years of service.