While there has been considerable public discussion and focus on IAS officers usurping a variety of government jobs, ranging from financial sector regulators to heads of autonomous bodies and government-funded institutions, little attention has been paid to the growing number of jobs that the IFS has been quietly pocketing. For the first time ever India has no non-IFS ambassador posted in any important capital. The so-called “political” posts, in London, Washington DC and Moscow, have been taken back by the IFS. Retired IFS officers are also now eyeing jobs in New Delhi, including heads of government-funded think tanks.