The much-awaited empanelment list of 1983 batch IAS officers was issued two days back. As usual, it has invited a plethora of analysis and interpretations, more so because of its errors and omissions (E&O). As is the convention, the empanelment order lists out officers according to the alphabetical order of their cadres. However, at some places, it breaks the order. For example, all three names from the Himachal cadre should appear together on the list whereas Ms. Bharti Sihag's name appears in the later part of the list. Same is the case with the Karnataka cadre officer, T M Vijay Bhaskar, who appears on the list separately - as the last name on the list. Since  all of this is at variance with the convention, it has naturally raised the eyebrows. Further, Bhaskar Khulbe's cadre reads as WD, instead of WB (West Bengal) These may be explained away by terming them as clerical mistakes. But those in the know of the affairs say that this happens because, in the name of maintaining secrecy, the orders are personally typed by senior officers (DS/Directors) who are usually not exposed to typing such orders. Secondly, the orders are typed in EO's room these days so that it does not get exposed to relatively lower rank officers  of the level of Under Secretaries and Section Officers. The inappropriate sequence of names, as mentioned earlier, has also kicked off the suspicion that the names appearing at the 28th and 31st place on the list might have been included in haste or under influence.