The search for senior Civil Service officers to keep the Telangana administration in good shape continues even two years after the formation of the State.

According to official estimates, there is shortage of about 60 IAS and an almost equal number of IPS officers.

“The direness of the situation has been communicated to the Centre and we are hoping for some positive response from the Department of Personnel and Training,’’ an official told Business Line .

The original strength of three all-India services cadre at the time of the formation of the new State was 163 IAS, 112 IPS and 65 IFoS (Indian Forest Service) officers.

Now there are only 138 IAS and 92 IPS officers in the State. However, excluding those who have gone on deputation to the Central services, the State is left with only 110 IAS, 80 IPS and 49 IFoS officers.

A couple of weeks ago, the Centre allotted 45 new IAS officers to Telangana but the State government wants 60 more. The recent decision of the government to create new districts lends urgency to the matter. The plan is to increase the number of districts to 25 from the current 10 by October this year.

“Creation of new districts is a Herculean task administratively as everything needs to be replicated. If done in a hurry without adequate staff, efficiency of governance will be affected,’’ a senior IAS officer said.

Division of employees between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has not yet been completed fully and this might lead to problems in finding adequate number of employees in the subordinate services. Recruitment to the Group-I and II cadre posts has not been conducted since the formation of the State.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW