The Chandigarh administration is grappling with a complex problem—the problem of plenty at senior levels of bureaucracy and that of scarcity at lower rungs. Senior levels are overcrowded while junior levels suffer from acute shortages of staff. Its cumulative effect is now taking a toll on public service delivery.
The situation is so intriguing that all IAS officers posted there are virtually deployed at the secretary level, while the middle-rung officialdom is dependent on makeshift arrangements.
Its current plight is contrasted by the fact that at one time, most of the departments were handled by three senior IAS officers—an adviser (now Chief Secretary), Home Secretary and Finance Secretary.
According to the Union Government’s notification issued on Jan 3, 2025, out of the 11 sanctioned posts of IAS officers in Chandigarh, five, excluding the Chief Secretary, are at the secretary level. But the fact is the Union Territory currently has 12 secretaries—double the sanctioned number at that level. This includes 11 IAS officers and one officer from the Central Civil Services, or CSS, who is serving as Secretary of social welfare and women and child development.
The IAS officers holding secretary-level posts also include Deputy Commissioner, a Haryana cadre IAS officer, who additionally holds the charge of Secretary, industry; and the MC Commissioner, a Punjab cadre IAS officer, who is also Secretary, rural development & panchayats.
A retired civil servant says as the number of IAS officers posted in the city increased with time, sometimes even more than the sanctioned posts, nearly all of them started to get secretary-level posts.
Many officials are of the opinion that junior-level IAS officers should be assigned posts at the director level so that it improves implementation of UT policies, while senior IAS officers should have more departments under them to improve inter-departmental coordination.
In contrast, the middle layer has ad-hoc arrangements and lacks proper structural alignment.
Currently, 16 officers from the PCS, HCS, and DANICS services are serving on deputation, primarily filling joint secretary, additional secretary, and director-level posts. Many of them hold multiple charges, handling both secretariat and field-level public-dealing responsibilities.
The Centre’s cadre notification, however, provides for only one sanctioned post each of joint secretary and additional secretary to be handled by IAS officers.
The situation is further compounded by the fact that more than 1,000 posts remain vacant across senior, middle and lower levels. This includes over 400 vacancies in the common cadre of the general administration, such as clerks and stenographers.
The education department alone faces a deficit of around 1,500 staff members. Recruitment has been initiated for just a fraction of these vacancies, resulting in strained teaching and administrative support in schools.
A UT official explains its impact by saying that this has led to greater reliance on contractual staff, slowed decision-making, piled-up files, reduced field-level implementation, and a noticeable decline in the quality of public services at the grassroots level.
Sanctioned posts of IAS include one Chief Secretary, one Secretary (Home), one Finance Secretary, one Secretary for urban planning/smart cities and two Secretaries; one Joint Secretary (finance), one Additional Secretary, and one Excise Commissioner, besides one Deputy Commissioner (districts) and one Additional Deputy Commissioner
At present, there are 11 IAS officers serving with the UT. One more from the Punjab cadre is expected to join shortly from a panel forwarded by the Punjab govt. One CCS officer is also posted with the UT.
Provincial services officers posted in the UT include four from DANICS, eight PCS officers, and four officers belonging to the HCS.
The city of Chandigarh, with a population of around 12 lakh, spread over 114 sq km, has no reason to have such a top-heavy governance system, that too at the policy level.
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