It is a common belief that our country India is not run by ministers but by bureaucrats. These bureaucrats are senior IAS officers who promote themselves to later by becoming the Secretary of the Government of India. These officers are not specialized subject matter experts but are general administrative officers who take decisions keeping in mind the Pros and Cons of every issue. They occupy the helm of all ministries and contribute significantly to the formulation of all policies of the country.

The Union Public Service Commission is the only commission to act as a central recruitment body for the higher posts of government ministries. IAS and other central civil servants are recruited through India’s most prestigious examination, popularly called the Civil Services Examination. In the last six or seven years, there have been about a thousand vacancies in the civil service advertisement, but the number of vacancies of an IAS officer is not written anywhere in the advertisement. The number of vacant posts in IAS is very few hence the competition is very high among the aspirants.

180 IAS Officers are Appointed Every Year

For IAS aspirants, curiosity about the number of vacancies of IAS officers is always there and every year there is a discussion about what will be the number of vacancies for the year. After analyzing the IAS results, it is clear that around 180 candidates are selected in the Indian Administrative Services every year. However, despite the increasing or decreasing number of vacancies of other services, only 180 IAS officers are recruited every year.

Formation of the Baswan Committee

We are discussing in detail here the facts related to the recruitment of IAS Officer. In the last decade, the government constituted the Baswan Committee. Shri BS Baswan, former Chairman of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), was the Chairman of this committee. The recommendations of the Baswan Committee were sent to the Department of Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions.

Suggestions from the Baswan Committee

The Baswan Committee considered the number of retired IAS officers, cadre review policy and rules, cadre review officers and procedures of the states in the period 2010-2020. On the basis of these considerations, the committee suggested that –

• In order to meet the requirement of IAS officers for the next 10 years, the number of IAS posts will have to be ensured at a certain level through the Civil Services Examination so that the quality of service and Cadre of all states remain balanced.
• At present, there is a backlog of 569 officers and in the next 10 years 2300 officers will retire, keeping in mind all these facts, it is suggested that apparently 180 officers are should be selected every year.
• With the recruitment of 180 IAS officers every year, the backlog of 569 vacancies can be reduced to 443 by the year 2020. The remaining backlog of 126 could also be eliminated over the next decade.
• In addition, he suggested that the number of IAS vacancies should not exceed 180 as it may affect the quality of training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) as well as impact the career pyramid of IAS officers.

This number should be based on ground facts and data. The process of settling all disputes related to promoted officers in all states should be easy and quick. States should start working on the number of vacancies for the coming years as soon as possible. So, the number of vacancies can be completed through a time-bound process.

Recommendations of the Baswan Committee Accepted!

The government accepted the recommendation of the Baswan Committee and hence, about 180 officers are recruited every year. This number will remain the same until the year 2020. Thereafter, candidates do not have to worry about the number of vacancies for the Indian Administrative Services.

Know, How Many IAS Officers are There in all States of India & How Many are More Required.

For letting our readers know, we have analyzed all the states of the country based on the data of the Department of Personnel and Training and find out which states are lacking in IAS officers or do not have as many IAS officers as they should be. Check out the table given below listing all the figures transparently.

Cadre	Authorised Strength	Total	Shortage
Uttar Pradesh	621	515	106
Madhya Pradesh	439	341	98
Maharashtra	361	313	48
Tamil Nadu	376	289	87
AGMUT	337	279	58
West Bengal	359	277	82
Bihar	342	243	99
Rajasthan	313	243	70
Gujarat	297	241	56
Assam-Meghalaya	263	221	42
Karnataka	314	215	99
Punjab	221	182	39
Odisha	237	178	59
Andhra Pradesh	211	170	41
Haryana	205	155	50
Chhattisgarh	193	154	39
Kerala	231	150	81
Jharkhand	215	144	71
Telangana	208	130	78
Himachal Pradesh	147	115	32
Jammu & Kashmir*	137	91	46
Manipur	115	91	24
Uttarakhand	120	87	33
Tripura	96	76	20
Nagaland	94	67	27
Sikkim	48	37	11

(All the figures are as available on the date 4th Sept 2018).

Due to this deficiency, not only the state government but also the central government is facing a shortage of officers. The number of unemployed students in the country is also increasing at an unusual rate every year. The government should formulate a policy that will prevent the delay caused by the shortage of officers in the work of the government and also curb the rising unemployment in the country.