It may sound puzzling but it has come to pass that the Union HRD Ministry is clueless about a Jt secretary rank post which falls under its jurisdiction. The tenure of Ms. Ruchira Kamboj (IFS:1987) as Permanent Representative of India in UNESCO (JS level post) has fallen vacant. The post was advertised twice but the ministry failed to arrive at any conclusion. The post was advertised first on 25 October 2016 and was readvertised on 17 January 2017. Ms. Ruchira completed her tenure as PRI on 15th April and has been named as next Indian High Commissioner in South Africa but her extension proposal as PRI (UNESCO) is also about to be cleared. It is believed that the establishment wants that this post be given to an IAS officer whereas IFS lobby appears keen to hold its hegemony over PRI post. Probably this has been the reason of an apparent deadlock/delay in the appointment of PRI (UNESCO). In fact, there are some foreign posts which naturally give IFS and IAS a set of reasons to claim them for themselves: MEA senior officials are well versed in dealing with foreign institutions whereas being the administrative ministry of certain posts, the IAS has rightful claims for all practical reasons. It is believed that the PRI (UNESCO) requires close coordination and synergy with MHRD, Ministry of Culture, Information & Broadcasting Ministry, Dept of Science and Technology and Dept of Oceanography. IAS officers are well versed with inter-ministerial work and networked well with several ministries and departments which make their claim justified. It is believed that even if Ms. Ruchira gets an extension for a couple of weeks or months, she may be eventually replaced with someone else.