Prayagraj: A former Provincial Civil Services officer who went on to clear the All-India Service exam and joined the IAS, Rinku Singh Rahi kicked up a storm by writing a letter to President Droupadi Murmu on March 26, 2026. This was not the only letter the bureaucrat-turned-whistleblower from Uttar Pradesh had sent to higher authorities.In three previous letters, dated September 29, 2025, October 27, 2025 and March 26, 2026, accessed by The Wire, Rahi flagged concerns about the work culture of an institution once described as the “Steel Frame of India” by Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister.“While the training we receive at LBSNAA [Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration] prepares us to face challenges through discipline, transparency, accountability and inclusive participation, the signalling from the top has been that survival will be difficult without a willingness to compromise on constitutional values,” Rahi wrote in his latest seven-page letter to Murmu.The Wire spoke with a person close to the Rahi family, along with a few former IPS officers, to understand the reason for the anguished claims being made by an IAS officer, known for his professional integrity.“People usually say that the full form of IAS is Indian Arrogant Services. He decided to put up a nameplate outside his residence that read ‘I Am Servant’. That’s what IAS meant to him,” the person close to Rahi’s family told The Wire.Rinku Singh Rahi’s latest letter to President Draupadi Murmu seeks to explain to her the events that have brought him in the limelight. He also writes that he is technically resigning because he feels unoccupied.Days after news about the ‘resignation’ of the 2023-batch IAS officer went viral on social media, his father chose to clear the air. “We are proud of him. Whatever decision he makes, it is always in the nation’s interest,” Saudan Singh Rahi, Rinku’s father, told reporters.“You can see our house. Whatever we earn from the chakki (small flour mill) explains this plaster,” he added, standing in front of a house with blue paint peeling off its walls.Speaking to this reporter, a person close to the IAS officer’s family clarified, “The media has misinterpreted his latest move. He hasn’t said anything about quitting the IAS. This whistleblowing letter is a form of technical resignation, urging that at least work be allocated to him in lieu of the salary he receives.”‘Accepted disability quota to serve the country’In July 2025, while he was posted as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in Shahjahanpur, a video of Rinku Singh Rahi doing sit-ups while holding his ears in front of a group of lawyers went viral.It all began when Rahi, who was on an inspection, spotted a man urinating inside the district court premises. According to a report by the Hindustan Times, the SDM had asked the man to do sit-ups.In this letter to the revenue department (Uttar Pradesh) Rinku Singh Rahi says delays in work were caused by systemic issues such as siloed office functioning, not employee negligence, so ‘No Work, No Pay’ for Aug-Sept 2025 is unfair and should be reversed.“He first thought of imposing a fine of Rs 500 on the person, but then realised that he seemed to be financially quite weak. Hence, as a symbolic gesture, he asked him to do five sit-ups,” said the person close to Rahi’s family.But when local lawyers apprised Rahi of the poor condition of toilets at the court complex, “he realised his mistake – if there is a lack of sanitation, one doesn’t have the right to punish someone else for that,” recalled the person close to Rahi.Owing to what can be described as the ‘principles of moral persuasion’, Rahi then did something that sent his career on a completely different trajectory. “He wanted to get rid of the mistrust people have in the government set-up. It was also a way of sending a message to subordinates to get their act together,” the person close to Rahi explained, speaking to The Wire about why the IAS officer chose to do sit-ups publicly.A poem by Rinku Singh Rahi that criticises hypocricy and extols moral clarity.Soon after, he was transferred to the Board of Revenue in Lucknow. The move meant that he was attached to a department entrusted with managing land records and handling revenue disputes, and no longer held a field posting.“Field postings are crucial during the initial years as an IAS officer since they help in developing a better understanding of policy-making. Depriving an officer of such exposure limits opportunities in the future,” Rahi argued in his letter to the President of India.Emphasising the significance of March 26 – the date of Rahi’s letter to the President – he wrote that he was assaulted on this date for his honesty, an attack that eventually resulted in his disability. On March 26, 2009, while he was posted as the Social Welfare Officer in Muzaffarnagar, Rahi was shot seven times for exposing a scholarship scam.“In order to be able to serve the nation, I decided to avail the disability quota,” Rahi wrote in his letter.A person close to the family also affirmed, “His dilemma stems from the fact that his entry into the IAS came through the disability quota, so for him it is like wanting to repay a debt.”In his letter, Rahi argues that this sense of duty is precisely why he finds the current situation untenable. Citing the ‘No Work, No Pay’ rule, he wrote to the President that being delegated to what he describes as a contractual position with limited authority leaves him unable to meaningfully serve. In his view, for this reason, his technical resignation should be accepted and he should be allowed to return to his prior service, the PCS.Is being ‘attached’ a punishment posting?What does a seemingly routine transfer, from an active posting to being attached to another department, actually mean?“Getting attached to an office simply means you continue to draw a monthly salary from that department, but no specific work is assigned. It’s meant to humiliate,” said Sulkhan Singh, former Uttar Pradesh director general of police.Speaking to The Wire, Singh, who was DGP, Uttar Pradesh in 2017, explained that while an officer is often ‘attached’ during suspension or administrative reshuffles, there are instances of what he described as the ‘unethical practice’ of using such postings to sideline certain officials.“There are instances of officers being kept in such ‘waiting’ positions. Renuka Mishra, for instance, was attached to the DGP’s office and was not given a posting for more than a year. Similarly, Ashish Gupta, who had returned from the Centre, held the rank of director general but was not given any posting and eventually opted for VRS (voluntary retirement scheme),” he said.Is there any grievance redressal mechanism for bureaucrats who find themselves at the receiving end of such a system?“One has the right to appeal against such an order, but most likely it won’t be heard because it is treated as an administrative action,” said Yashovardhan Azad, a former IPS officer who served as Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau and Secretary (Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs.“Unless someone is able to establish real bias or persecution in such an administrative action, the appeal will not be entertained. In this case, I don’t think anything can be done,” Azad told The Wire.Describing Rahi’s decision to make a man do sit-ups as “overreach”, Azad also commented on his transfer to the Board of Revenue. Acknowledging that such a move can be perceived as a form of punishment, he said, “The Board of Revenue is meant to be a non-field posting, essentially a desk assignment. Do you know there are almost five crore revenue cases pending in this country? Many of these cases are adjudicated by senior IAS officers.”Concerns over bureaucratic work cultureIn two of his letters dated September 29, 2025 and October 27, 2025, sent to officials in the revenue department, Rahi raised concerns about what he called opaque functioning of the system.For instance, in the September letter – a copy of which was seen by The Wire – Rahi questioned the “casual approach” of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which he argued had created roadblocks in the implementation of welfare schemes. One example he cited relates to the generation of family identities: separate IDs are often generated for individual members even though a single family ID could be used to generate caste certificates for all members of the household.Similarly, in his letter dated October 27, 2025, he flagged a loophole related to the attestation process for income certificates.Is the recent episode linked to any face-off with the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh?“He does not have any kind of friction with political bosses. His fight is only with a bureaucracy that has turned into a trap,” said a person close to Rahi’s family while speaking to this reporter.“He often thinks about Bhagat Singh. He is not a coward who is going to step back,” the person further told The Wire.In April 1929, freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, along with Batukeshwar Dutt, hurled two bombs inside the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi in an act of defiance against colonial rule. The act was aimed at drawing the attention of the British regime.“This is meant to create noise so that the deaf can hear about the loopholes in the system,” said the person close to Rahi’s family.Regarding the allegations levelled by Rahi about the work culture at the Board of Revenue, The Wire contacted Kanchan Verma, commissioner and secretary at the Revenue Council in Lucknow, but received no response. Questions have also been sent to her on WhatsApp. This story will be updated if and when a response is received.