The country is facing a considerable shortage of bureaucrats. According to the IAS Civil List 2024, as on January 1, 2024 there was a shortage of 1316 IAS officers out of the total sanctioned strength of 6858 officers in the country. The total in-position strength was 5,542. Similarly, for Indian Police Service (IPS), there were over 586 vacancies against the sanctioned strength of 5,055 and Indian Forest Service (IFS) registered vacancy of 1,042 against sanctioned strength of 3,193.
It was disclosed by the Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha recently. To deal with these gaps, a committee chaired by C. Chandramouli has recommended intake scenarios of Direct Recruit IAS officers on the basis of Civil Services Examination (CSE). The recommendations are currently under consideration of the government.
At the same time, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law & Justice in its latest report tabled in the Parliament too has expressed concern on the vacancies saying that the shortage significantly impacts administrative efficiency and governance across various levels of the government.
The panel stressed the need for swift action to enhance the recruitment process and meet the growing demands of public administration. The parliamentary committee also said that the Chandramouli Committee’s report regarding the intake of direct recruit IAS officers may be studied and implemented at the earliest.
The Committee noted the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT)’s submission regarding delays in the submission of proposals for the determination of vacancies in the IAS promotion quota. The DoPT said that the number of vacancies is determined by it in consultation with the State governments concerned.
The Committee recommended that the DoPT should initiate an online tracking and submission portal for State governments. This platform would allow State governments to submit their proposals electronically, track the progress of their submissions and receive automated reminders about deadlines.
Besides, the panel suggested setting up of a penalty system for delayed submissions.
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