The Department of Revenue has, for the first time, issued transfer guidelines to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to ensure every officer gets a chance to serve in metro cities. These guidelines came to be formulated following Director Karnal Singh's initiative to streamline the overall functioning of the department and discourage tendencies among some officers to manoeuvre extended postings to metros. Issued last month "to bring greater efficiency, effectiveness and transparency", the guidelines give three years of minimum tenure to all officers at a station but bar anyone from spending more than 15 years at a station even if it has all three offices of the directorate - the head office, the regional office and the zonal office. The order also states that no officer can have more than 22 years of cumulative tenure in the metros. This means that no officer can ensure his posting in Delhi (which has zonal, regional and the head office and is a coveted destination) for more than 15 years at a stretch. It also tends to ensure that no officer spends his entire tenure in big cities. The policy says that Group A officers would be transferred out of the Region (office) upon promotion unless they have spent less than two years at the office. Similarly, Group B officers will be transferred out after promotion to Group A unless they have only three years of service left. The policy gives choice posting, including posting to home stations, to those superannuating within two years and those who have spent two years in tough stations such as Jammu and Kashmir and the North-east region. However, there is a caveat of "transfer in public interest" where an officer may be transferred out before completion of his minimum tenure "for reasons to be recorded". The transfers will be effected through Civil Service Boards at ED headquarters in Delhi and regional offices. The board would have the ED director as chairman and special director (headquarter) and joint director (administration) as members.