Deputation

noun (countable and uncountable)

/ˌdɛpjʊˈteɪʃən/

The temporary assignment of a government official from his or her parent cadre or service to another department, organisation, or international body, while continuing to hold the lien on the original post. In India, IAS and IPS officers are frequently sent on deputation to central ministries, public sector undertakings, or international organisations such as the UN. The officer on deputation draws pay from the borrowing organisation but retains service seniority in the parent cadre.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

Several senior IPS officers, currently on deputation with the Central Reserve Police Force, were recalled to their parent state cadres ahead of the assembly elections to augment the state police deployment.

Synonyms

secondmentassignmentpostingtransferdetachment

Antonyms

repatriationrecallpermanent posting

🌱 Word Family

deputise (verb), deputy (noun), depute (verb), deputed (adjective), deputisation (noun)

🔡 Root

Latin deputare (to consider, to assign) ← de- (down, away) + putare (to reckon, to prune)

📜 Etymology

From Late Latin deputationem, the noun of action from deputare (to assign, to allot). The word entered English in the 15th century first in the general sense of 'assignment of a task to a person', later narrowing to the bureaucratic/diplomatic sense of secondment.

🧠 Memory Hook

DEPUTATION = DEPUTY-station: you send someone as your DEPUTY (substitute) to a new posting. A civil servant on deputation is working elsewhere as a deputy to that new organisation.

⚖️ Polity & Constitution 📖 Seen in: Preamble of the Indian Constitution

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