New Delhi, Feb. 14: The Narendra Modi government has unwrapped a Valentine's Day gift for civil servants, tweaking rules that will now allow married IPS-IAS-IFS couples to work in the same state.

The amendment was cleared at a meeting of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet that the Prime Minister chaired.

Sources in the Union home ministry said the government has in the past considered requests from civil servant couples but decided to change the rules today after Nisha, an IPS officer, wrote to the Prime Minister's Office requesting an inter-cadre transfer.

Nisha married her batch-mate, IAS officer P. Parthiban, in 2012.

Before joining, Nisha, who is from Delhi, had been allotted Tamil Nadu, according to her preference, and is now posted in Coimbatore. Parthiban, who is from Tamil Nadu, got AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre. He is now posted in Puducherry.

"The decision to amend the rules was triggered by Nisha's request," said a senior home ministry official. Couples will, however, not get a cadre that is the home state of either.