- Of late, the subject matter is grabbing desirous headlines as plans are afoot to ensure an adequate number of Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers are available at both the central and state government levels to press ahead with the implementation of several developmental schemes. As reported widely, there are huge vacancies in the IAS cadre which has reached a stage where decisive actions are necessitated without any further delay. Recent data presented by a Parliamentary standing committee show that vacancies in the IAS are severely affecting central and state governments in equal measure.
PC: Opennaukri
- Remember, the Union Government had mooted an amendment to service rules to ensure more officers are available for central deputation by making states’ consent immaterial leading to a stiff pushback from opposition-governed states. Of course, the Government of India was unhappy that though the number of IAS officers had increased from a decade ago, officers on the central deputation reserve had reduced by 27%. Now, the Parliamentary committee has revealed that over 1,500 sanctioned IAS officer posts (22%) at the state level lie vacant with some states reporting greater gaps than others.
- Some measures are already in place to address this glaring anomaly. Quick-fix solutions like conferring IAS on state civil service officers or temporarily appointing other central or state cadre officers to posts reserved for IAS have had a marginal effect. Further, the last review of IAS cadre strengths in 2021 had fixed the annual intake at 180 officers. The Parliamentary committee has remarked that a panel constituted to revise this number for 2022 onwards can significantly increase the intake to fill sanctioned posts. Nonetheless, bureaucracy is battling a crisis of quality alongside quantity.
PC: Swarajya Staff
- Other initiatives like Mission Karmayogi and Capacity Building Commission must lead to a performance management system that can reward the best and brightest and deter young officers from sliding into mediocrity. Make no mistake, underperformers must be retired prematurely so that they don’t drag down governance to harmful effects. On the flipside, talented officers are also sandwiched between mediocrity and officer scarcity, and heavily overworked as well which is not a sustainable path at all. Meanwhile, the Government of India’s efforts at lateral entry has struggled too owing to practical challenges.
- Note that, unlike many IAS officers who rise to the mid-and-senior-levels with deep-rooted knowledge of the terrain and strong support networks, lateral entrants face the outsider tag despite industry or research, or grassroots experience they may possess. As is its wont, bad politics too has played its role. There’s no political incentive to review the number of officers parked in non-essential departments, commissions, corporations, and schemes that symbolize big government. Ideally, this should be a starting point to cut governance flab at not just the personnel level but also unyielding schemes as well. Decisive action beckons for the authorities!
