The Odisha government is suffering from a crisis of governance due to an acute shortage of officers across several administrative services, with hundreds of sanctioned posts lying vacant. According to the official figures presented in the Assembly on Monday, 42 posts of IAS, 67 posts of IPS, and 66 posts of IFoS officers remain vacant.
The situation is grimmer in state cadres of the Administrative Service, Police Service, and Forest Service. The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) has 330 vacant posts, the Odisha Police Service (OPS) has 146 vacant posts, and the Odisha Forest Service (OFoS) shows a shortfall of 473 officers. The state has a sanctioned strength of 851 OPS officers, 2,248 OAS officers, and 1,058 OFoS officers.
These figures were disclosed in the Assembly after MLA Pradeep Kumar Dishari raised a question regarding the number of sanctioned posts and vacancies in the IAS, IPS, and IFoS cadres and their state service counterparts. He also sought details of officers deputed outside the state and abroad.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Mahapatra informed the House that 27 IAS officers, 28 IPS officers, and 7 IFS officers are currently on deputation to the Union govt. According to the chief minister, the state has a sanctioned strength of 248 IAS officers, 195 IPS officers, and 141 IFS officers.
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