The Centre, which relies on states for IAS officers, has only 34 per cent of the officers it should ideally have.
New Delhi: The central government has been left to bear the brunt of the severe shortage of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers across the country, with central ministries and departments managing with just 34 per cent of the officers they should ideally have.
Under ideal circumstances, the central government should have a pool of 1,417 IAS officers but as of now, it just has 486 officers, as per records with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
In reality though, the overall pool itself is generally lesser as it is calculated in proportion to the shortage of officers in the state.
According to DoPT data, the country is short of around 1,449 IAS officers, with many states unable to fill up positions.
As a result, this shortage of IAS officers in the states has had a domino effect at the Centre, which does not have its own IAS cadre.
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For its IAS officers, the central government relies on the states, which are supposed to depute a certain percentage of officers to the union government. This percentage is determined by the authorised cadre strength of officers in each state.
But with the states themselves grappling with a shortage, they have not been able to fulfil their quota requirements.
Sample this: A fairly large state such as West Bengal has sent just 13 per cent of the IAS officers it is mandated to provide the Centre, while Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand have sent just 17 per cent and 25 per cent officers to the central government on deputation.
The three states are the top defaulters in sending IAS officers to the central government on deputation.
States reluctant to depute officers
The states have shown a huge reluctance in sending IAS officers to the Centre on deputation as they themselves have been unable to fill up vacancies.
West Bengal, for instance, is supposed to send 82 officers (22 per cent) to the Centre, as per the Central Deputation Reserve (CDR). The CDR determines the limit of officers who should be sent on central deputation.
West Bengal, however, has 98 vacancies in its authorised cadre strength of 378 officers.
Even after taking the vacancies into account, the state should send at least 61 officers (proportionate amount) on deputation. It has, however, only sent eight officers.
Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, similarly, are ideally supposed to send 42 and 26 officers to the Centre respectively.
With Chhattisgarh facing a shortage of 32 officers in its 193-cadre strength, it could still have sent 35 officers (proportionate amount) to the Centre but it has sent only six.
Even accounting for the shortage of 20 officers in its 120-cadre strength, Uttarakhand should send at least 20 officers (proportionate) on central deputation. It, however, has sent just five.
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On the other hand, states such as Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Sikkim have been some of the better performers. HP has sent 25 officers to the Centre, as against a proportionate number of 26 officers. Kerala has sent 30 officers, as against a proportionate number of 34 officers, while Sikkim has sent seven officers to the Centre, as against the proportionate number of eight.
A host of reasons
A number of civil servants ThePrint spoke to listed multiple factors for the dire situation.
A DoPT official said that apart from states being reluctant to send officers, those who have been promoted to the IAS cadre, from their respective state cadres, are not keen on leaving their states.
“The problem is accentuated by the fact that the promoted officers, having little residual service, are reluctant to leave their states and thus very few promoted IAS officers are seen in central government posts,” the official said.
A senior West Bengal cadre official said there could be political reasons too.
“Look at West Bengal. The state government doesn’t want to release officers at all,” the official said. “Similarly, Gujarat also doesn’t want to send many officers to the Centre but for a select few that the Centre had asked for”.
Officials said, another problem, especially at the junior and middle levels, is the reluctance of officers, occupying field postings and enjoying the attendant perks and facilities, to opt for deputation to the Centre, where these facilities do not exist.
“As a result, while the shortage of IAS officers is affecting all states and the Centre, it is the Centre that bears a disproportionate damage for its own short-sighted cadre management of the past,” the DoPT official said.
A Rajasthan cadre bureaucrat flagged another issue with the system.
“Most of these officers who come to the Centre are the rank of joint secretary and above. The Centre is, thus, denied the benefit of field experience of junior officers,” the officer said. “It is important to let officers gain experience in the central government so that they can implement the exercise in the states.”
Aware of the shortage of officers, the newly-appointed president of the IAS Association, Rakesh Srivastava, told ThePrint that the association is contemplating suggesting making it compulsory for states to fill their quota of officers under the CDR. “We are in the process of finalising the presentation, and then we will send it to the PMO…Most states don’t even fill 50 per cent of their quota, so that needs to be addressed,” he said.
Opaque empanelment process
Senior officials said the lack of transparency in the empanelment process also dissuades many officers who would otherwise want to work at the Centre.
Bureaucrats are promoted through the empanelment process. For instance, an officer serving as a joint secretary can be empanelled to be the additional secretary.
The senior West Bengal cadre official told ThePrint that this empanelment has always been dictated by the ruling dispensation at the Centre but the 360-degree process, brought in by the Narendra Modi government, has further queered the pitch
“The new 360-degree process has made empanelment of bureaucrats a completely opaque process, where the officers are not even told the reasons why they have been denied an empanelment,” the official said. “This has only increased the crisis”.
A Union Territory cadre official further said that many who come to the Centre are also seeking premature repatriation to their states. “Blame it on the surveillance model of this government or just lesser room for decision-making, IAS officers don’t want to come to the Centre anymore,” the officer said.
This is small problem . IAS should be made two categories one central services and state services. But state services I A S OFFICERS can be posted on DEPUTATION to the centre but NOT the central service IAS OFFICERS not be posted to the state .Somany useless rules spoiling the country and wasting the public heavily taxed money .
Why Don’t you divert Superannuated Army officers. They can do much job very well. And they will be highly motivated and resourceful also. This is being followed all around the world. Just The Government needs to open its eyes and look around. The options are a plenty.
Thank you Prasanna Sir????
It is not s big issue. Make central service compulsory and deny consideration to next grade. It is just reluctance of IAS officers themselves. They want to have the cake and eat it too. The government can well consider other services to man the posts. They are in no way inferior to the GENERALISTS with no special knowledge.
Allow retired Armed Forces officers, who are much more than deserving for such hapless position .
Is IAS is the only civil service officers present in India. The exam is conducted to select candidates of such calibre and allot them various services. But unfortunately after that, they r not nurtured for general working and been sidelined for so called coveted posts. Now with shortage of the IAS cadre, the common public is suffering for want of good governance. Whom to blame!
Human resource mis-management will end the day there is a working judiciary in india armed with sufficient powers and a powerful law of torts. Until then what has been happening since independence will continue. Artificial scarcity in the ias has been created by a mismanaged DOPT and a mismanaged UPSC plus the central govt is a top heavy and very bloated structure as are many other state govts which have armies of employees getting paid for doing no work or for creating problems for all
Sir! Because of only “Sandil Chaattoo” IAS officers are only cared, respected and rewarded ???? Intelligent persons must have some standard of self respect and they refrain from posting a system full of nepotism. Perhaps everybody knows how an IAS is selected specially if you trace the families background????