ABSTRACT
Nehru inspired by the works of Verrier Elwin developed his philosophy of NEFA: primitive people have to be dealt with care and friendliness and require expert knowledge which our average administrator does not possess. It was necessary to establish a specially trained cadre. Nehru’s ideas remained vague for a few years and it was only in 1953/54 that the project started to take a concrete shape. The cadres of Administration in NEFA had two parts. Firstly, the NEFA Civil Service which encompasses the posts of Circle Officers and Extra Assistant Commissioners and secondly, the Indian Frontier Administrative Service which was established in 1956 by the Government of India through special recruitment by inviting applications from officers from all walks of life as also the existing All India Services. Officials of IFAS the cadre served in Tibet as well as Gangtok. The chapter chronicles the contributions of some of the brilliant IFAS officials like Maj. K.C. Johorey, Bob Khathing, Maj. S.M. Krishnatry, Lt. Col. Rashid Yusuf Ali.
