IAS shortage holds back work in Bihar

The state is currently facing a shortage of 128 IAS officers, more than any other state in the country.

posals to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for selection of suitable officers for the “promotion quota” of IAS.

Last year, selection committee meetings were held for the promotion of state/ non-state civil services officers to the IAS, following which 175 officers were appointed by promotion. The government also organised training programmes for seven extra batches at Administrative Training Institutes to remove the backlog of induction training for promoted IAS officers.

Sources said that despite the shortage of IAS officers, the government is in no mood to increase the annual intake from the existing 180. Therefore, the situation is unlikely to improve in the next few years.

“The government feels that any further increase in recruitment of IAS officers could disturb their career progression. Moreover, there are issues regarding inadequate capacity to impart training to a bigger batch,” said an IAS officer.

The government had asked the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) to prepare a report in this regard and the IIPA report did not favour increasing the intake of IAS officers, maintaining, instead, that any increase in the intake of officers would “dilute the quality of bureaucrats”.

Last year, selection committee meetings were held for promotion of state/non-state civil services officers to the IAS, following which 175 officers were appointed by promotion. The government also organised training programmes for seven extra batches at Administrative Training Institutes.