Kerala govt redesignates Dafedars as office attendants in Public Service Commission

Time of India

11 hours ago

Thiruvananthapuram: The state govt decided to turn a new page in its administrative history by redesignating all Dafedar posts in the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) as office attendant roles.
This move may signal the beginning of the end for a colonial-era post that once stood for power, presence and protocol in govt offices.
The term Dafedar dates back to the British Raj. In the colonial military, a Dafedar held the rank of sergeant in the cavalry. The civil administration borrowed the nomenclature — and some of its flair — to assign the title to senior attendants, often stationed outside the chambers of district collectors and other top officials.
Wearing a distinctive white uniform, waistband and a cross-belt, the Dafedar wasn't just a messenger.
He was a symbol of authority, access and colonial ceremony.
In modern-day Kerala, the public has come to associate the Dafedar with a unique figure — the ever-watchful man at the door of the collector's chamber, who often seemed more formidable than the collector. Ushering in the important and stopping the lesser mortals, he embodied a legacy that outlived its original purpose but not its ritual.
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"Dafedars have long symbolised power and authority in the collectorates — they're often the first face of the administration that the public encounters," said an IAS officer who served until recently as a district collector in the state. "But over the years, there were frequent complaints from citizens about rude or dismissive behaviour. It's possible that the colonial hangover of the uniform and the gatekeeping role made some of them behave like they were part of a bygone order," he added.
Now, that legacy is showing cracks. The state cabinet approved the redesignation of 21 existing Dafedar posts in the Kerala PSC as office attendants. Of these, only eight were filled through promotion from the office attendant cadre. The remaining 13 were being handled through temporary working arrangements, as office attendants were reluctant to accept a promotion to Dafedar since the post had no further promotional prospects.
This stagnation turned a once-prestigious post into a bottleneck. In the post-colonial era, where public servants are no longer content to remain where they start and look upward, expecting the system to give them a path to grow, the PSC secretary's proposal to redesignate the posts received the backing of employee organisations and was vetted by the personnel and administrative reforms department. The finance department, too, gave its approval, noting that the move will not lead to any additional financial burden.
Those currently serving as Dafedars in the PSC will retain their existing pay scale of Rs 17,000 – Rs 37,500, along with the seniority they would have as office attendants. All transitions will be carried out with consent and clarity to ensure fairness.
Importantly, this decision applies only to the KPSC at present. The more publicly visible Dafedars — those posted outside district collector offices in their signature attire — remain in place for now. But with this formal step by the PSC, even those longstanding symbols of colonial order may quietly fade soon. As Kerala rethinks the roles and designations inherited from its imperial past, the Dafedar — once the uniformed guardian of bureaucratic sanctity — finds himself at the crossroads of change.
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