IAS officers skipping central posts under Modi regime

Fewer and fewer IAS officers are opting for the central deputation under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS) since the Modi government came to power, with the lowest 153 IAS officers appointed in the central ministries and departments in the last financial year.

The ministry of personnel that maintains the rolls of the IAS, IPS and IFoS cadre officers says a total of 340 IAS officers were appointed under the CSS during 201415 as against 320 in 2015-16, 247 during 2016-17 and 211 during 2017-18.

Total authorised strength of the IAS officers in the country is 6,500 as on January 1, 2019, out of which the CDR is 1,381. Out of this CDR, only 507 IAS officers were working at the Centre.

The Central Staffing Scheme on operation for decades provides a systematic arrangement of selection and appointment of eligible officers from the participating services at the levels of deputy secretary, director, joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary in the central government.

To encourage officers from the participating services, including the IAS, to come on CSS, official communications are issued twice a year requesting the cadre authorities to nominate eligible officers for deputation at the Centre.

Of the central deputation reserve of 74 IAS officers for

Total authorised strength of the IAS officers in the country is 6,500 as on January 1, 2019, out of which the CDR is 1,381. Out of this CDR, only 507 IAS officers were working at the Centre

Bihar cadre, only 38 officers were working at the Centre. The ministry data also busts the myth of large number of Gujarat cadre IAS officers flocking to the central post since Modi came to power as only 17 IAS officers of the state cadre were posted at the Centre as against its reserve of 64.

As many as 44 IAS officers of UP cadre were at the Centre against its CDR of 134, 24 of Maharashtra cadre against its quota of 78, 22 of Tamil Nadu against its CDR of 81, 18 of Rajasthan against 64, 15 of Punjab against 48, 20 of odisha against its quota of 51, and 28 of Madhya Pradesh against its reserve of 90.

Kerala had sent 31 IAS officers to the Centre as against its reserve of 50, Karnataka 20 against reserve of 45, Andhra Pradesh 18 against 46, J&K 13 against quota of 30, Jharkhand 10 against 68, Himachal Pradesh 26 against 32, Haryana 12 against 44 and Chhattisgarh 7 against its reserve of 38.