Over 22 per cent IAS/IPS posts lying vacant across country, Centre admits in Parliament

More than 22% IAS and IPS posts are lying vacant across the country –1,515 posts to be specific – the government has said in Parliament in response to questions asked by Congress MP Hibi Eden.

The total assigned strength for officers across the country is 6,746, but only 5,231 positions have been filled.

Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest number of officers at 652, has the highest number of vacancies at 104. This is followed by Bihar, which has 94 vacancies, West Bengal at 80, Jammu and Kashmir at 78 and Maharashtra at 77.

The AGMUT cadre, which serves in Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and the Union Territories, has 87 vacancies.

To a question on whether the Central government was planning to acquire overriding powers to transfer IAS and IPS officers through Central deputation, the department stated that state governments were not sponsoring adequate number of officers for Central deputation. As a result, the government has sought comments from states on the subject.

In 2019, it had come to light that the number of civil service candidates shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had fallen by almost 40% since 2014. This was despite the growing number of vacancies.

In 2021, 761 candidates were selected, while in 2019, 829 officers were shortlisted. In 2018, 759; 2017, 990; 2016, 1,099; 2015, 1,078; and in 2014, 1,236 candidates were selected.

The number of the candidates selected has been steadily dropping since 2014 and has fallen to more than 40% since 2014. This is despite the growing number of vacancies in the government.

In 2018, the government had announced its plan to ‘reform’ the civil services by bringing in fresh talent through lateral entry. In 2021, the government had announced a list of 31 lateral appointments through UPSC to senior positions in different departments/ministries on contract basis or deputation.