The empanelment of IAS officers for Secretary and Additional Secretary (AS) rank posts has become too complex. However, it is clear that 1986, 1989 and 1990 batches of IAS officers are close to make a cut this year, though the pattern and timing may be altered. Contrary to the usual pattern, 1986 batch IAS officers could expect their turn to become Secretary after the AS empanelment of 1989 batch of IAS officers. In fact, vacancies in Secretary rank posts, except two or three, have saturated till October, hence the government would be constrained to justify in case it clears the empanelment of 1986 batch of IAS officers before September this year. Secondly, there are various vacancies in Additional Secretary rank post which calls for immediate empanelment of 1989 batch of IAS officers prior to the empanelment of 1986 batch. If sources are to be believed, 1989 batch would be the first among the three batches to get its due. The 1986 batch of IAS officers may have to wait for another couple of months following which 1990 batch may expect their empanelment towards the end of the year. Reportedly, the 1990 batch has cleared the CVC hurdle and 360-evaluation too is complete but it will have to wait for another three months for empanelment. It may be mentioned that the government, in 2017, had made a departure from the established norms of empanelling a batch a year but later faced many difficulties in promoting and posting the officers belonging to 1984 & 1985 batches and 1987 & 1988 batches.