IAS-IPS Couples: The Growing Trend Of Love And Marriage Among Civil Services Officers

Last Updated:December 18, 2025, 13:24 IST

From shared classrooms in Mussoorie to lifelong partnerships, IAS and IPS love stories are no longer rare, with training, trust and shared ambition bringing officers together

During months of shared classes, hostel life and group activities, many friendships deepen into lasting relationships. (AI-Generated Image)

Love stories within the top civil services are no longer unusual. Marriages between IAS, IPS and other All India Service officers have become increasingly common, with many of these relationships beginning during training itself. What was once seen as a coincidence is now widely recognised as a pattern, shaped by shared experiences, similar ambitions and the intense environment in which young officers begin their careers.

For most officers, the journey starts at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, where newly selected candidates undergo their foundation course. Having cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination, they arrive at the academy typically between the ages of 23 and 30, a phase of life when professional goals and personal decisions often intersect. It is here, during months of shared classes, hostel life and group activities, that many friendships deepen into lasting relationships.

During the foundation course, probationers of the IAS, IPS, IFS and other central services train together for nearly 3-4 months. They live in the same hostels, attend the same lectures, participate in group exercises, treks and cultural programmes, and spend long hours studying and debating policy. The intensity and closeness of this environment often turns professional camaraderie into deep friendships, and in some cases, into romantic relationships.

Senior officers point out that compatibility comes easily in this setting. Every probationer at LBSNAA has survived years of academic rigour, uncertainty and pressure during UPSC preparation. That shared journey tends to shape similar ways of thinking, comparable social awareness and a strong sense of public purpose. Mutual respect flows naturally from professional equality, neither partner is seen as having “settled" for the other, and both understand the demands, frustrations and unpredictability of bureaucratic life.

Marriages within the services are not new. Records from the 1950s and 1960s already show several such alliances, including well-known pairs like TN Seshan and Jayalakshmi, both IAS officers, and Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha of the IFS and Geeta Bhagat of the IAS. However, these were relatively few, largely because the presence of women in the services was limited at the time.

That equation has changed dramatically. As the number of women officers has risen since the 1990s, marriages between batchmates and fellow trainees have increased correspondingly. Officers who joined after 2000 say the phenomenon has become far more visible, aided by greater social openness, social media interactions and a more transparent cadre-allotment system.

Several high-profile relationships in recent years have kept the spotlight on this trend. Tina Dabi and Athar Aamir Khan, both from the 2015 IAS batch, met during the foundation course and married soon after, although the marriage ended in divorce in 2018. IPS officer Manu Maharaj and his wife Pooja, also an IPS officer, met during training and went on to serve in the Bihar cadre. IAS officers Chetan Tambe and Ashwini Vaidyan from Karnataka, IPS officers Deepak and Preeti Yadav from Madhya Pradesh, and IAS-IPS couples such as Rashmi Kamal and Kamaldeep are other examples of relationships that began in academy classrooms and study halls.

Some stories have captured public imagination for their simplicity. Yuvraj Marmat, an IAS officer, and IPS officer P Monica famously spent just Rs 2,000 on their court marriage, while IPS officer Navjot Simi and IAS officer Tushar Singla married on Valentine’s Day inside Singla’s office. In another instance, IAS topper Harsh Mangla married his batchmate Anjali after meeting her during training, while IAS officer Srishti Deshmukh married Dr Nagarjun Gowda, whom she met at the academy, a few years after completing the foundation course.

There are no official statistics, but senior officers estimate, half in jest, that couples at LBSNAA often form faster than cadres do. Informal calculations suggest that roughly 10-15% of a foundation course batch of 350-400 trainees eventually marry someone from the services, a proportion that appears to be rising.

Cadre allocation has also played a role, though opinions differ on how decisive it is. In earlier decades, the government often tried to post married officers in the same cadre. While rules are now stricter, there remains provision for spouses to be posted in the same state on a case-by-case basis, which many officers believe helps relationships survive frequent transfers and long working hours. Some admit privately that shared cadre preferences can influence marriage decisions, though this is difficult to quantify.

At the academy itself, personal relationships are not restricted, but discipline is tightly enforced. Hostel timings, codes of conduct and professional boundaries apply equally to all, and the administration intervenes only if personal matters disrupt training or violate rules. Unwelcome behaviour is dealt with strictly.

Academic research has also begun to examine these relationships. Sociological studies note that the prolonged stress of UPSC preparation creates a shared emotional vocabulary among officers, which is reinforced during training. Experts on administrative reforms argue that marriages within the bureaucracy often prove resilient because both partners understand erratic schedules, political pressure and public scrutiny. At the same time, studies caution that challenges do arise, particularly when both spouses hold authority in the same district or department, where questions of protocol and ego can surface.

Despite these complexities, IAS-IPS marriages continue to enjoy strong social acceptance. They are often viewed as “power couples", admired for their status, stability and perceived sense of public service. Families tend to see such matches as secure and respectable, reinforcing the cycle.

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