Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions told  the Lok Sabha that as on January 1, 2021, there were 5,231 IAS officers in the country — 1,515 (22.45 per cent) fewer than the sanctioned strength of 6,746.

About IAS

• The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India.
• Considered the premier central civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service.
• Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states.
• IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings and international organizations.

Functions of the IAS

• Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate.
• Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate and collector which lasts several years.
• After this tenure, an officer may be promoted to head a whole state administrative division, as a divisional commissioner.

How are officers recruited in the IAS?

• Direct recruits are selected through the Civil Service Examination (CSE) every year; the number of recruits is decided by a committee that takes several factors into account.
• Since 2012, 180 IAS officers have been recruited every year through the CSE.
• A committee has been constituted to arrive at a suitable formula to determine the intake of IAS officers every year from CSE-2022 to 2030.
• Some officers are promoted from the State Civil Services (SCS), and a limited number are promoted from among non-SCS officers.
• Filling of vacancies through induction from State Services is a continuous process.
• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) holds Selection Committee meetings with state governments.

Is the shortage a new trend?

• The shortage has been a constant feature ever since — it was the least in 2001 (0.79 per cent), and the most in 2012 (28.87 per cent), as per available data.

How is the sanctioned strength decided?

• There is a provision for quinquennial cadre reviews for every cadre of the All India Services under the relevant Cadre Rules.
• The Cadre Review Committee (CRC) is headed by the Cabinet Secretary with the Secretary DoPT, Secretary Expenditure, Secretary Administrative Ministry, and the senior-most member of the service/cadre in question as its members.
• Cadre review is an ongoing process, and some states are taken up by rotation every year for review — in 2020-21.
• For example, it was decided to revise the strength and composition of the IAS in UP and Bihar, and of the IPS in Manipur.
• The sanctioned strength, therefore, keeps changing.

What impact can a shortage of IAS officers have?

• IAS officers are given a wide range of high-level responsibilities.
• In states, their work relates to the collection of revenue, maintenance of law and order, and supervision of policies of the central and state governments.
• They function as executive magistrates in revenue matters, and as development commissioners.
• They supervise the spending of public funds and, at a senior level, contribute to policy formulation and decision-making in consultation with Ministers.
• They serve the central government under deputation.

Other issues

• State governments have sometimes refused to send IAS/IPS/Indian Forest Service officers to the Centre saying they are short of officers.
• The Centre has recently proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules in order to exercise greater control in central deputation of IAS officers.

Why can’t we have more IAS officers?

• The B S Baswan Committee, said in its report submitted in 2016 that “any number above 180 would

1. Compromise quality
2. Exceed the LBNSAA’s (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration’s) capacity and
3. Lead to a distortion in the career pyramid of IAS officers, particularly for senior posts in the Government of India

• The Committee recommended that “vacant posts in the Centre and states can be filled by deputation where the number of deputationists would be less than the present.”

Issues with shortage of Officers

• Bureaucracy deficit is, perhaps, compelling states to take recourse to such means as appointing non-cadre officers to cadre posts.
• States allow them to continue in such posts beyond the permissible time limit besides giving multiple charges to serving officers.
• Such measures compromise the efficiency of administration.

Way ahead

• The DoPT should increase the annual intake of IAS officers significantly keeping in view the evolving needs of Indian administration.

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