As per the official guidelines released by the government, the total number of seats for the year 2021 was 712, 84 seats less than the previous year 2020. In fact, if we look at the statistics over the past few years, we can conclude that the vacancies in civil services are constantly reducing steadily. In spite of a lack of IAS and IPS officers in the country. A statement, given by the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, Jitendra Singh. According to projections, India may not be able to close the gap even by 2025.
The number of vacancies over the past few years have been :
2012- 1037 , 2013- 1000, 2014- 1291, 2015- 1129, 2016- 1079, 2017- 980, 2018- 782, 2019- 896, 2020- 796, 2021- 712.
According to the above figures, it is clear that the number of vacancies has been fluctuating simultaneously. But what is the main reason behind the decreasing number of vacancies?
The main concern with the shortage of officers in the government is that the government machinery may operate effectively given the deficiency. The country’s governance will be hindered by the lack of qualified personnel and the work load on the present officers would be high.
The Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) has published a study that states that, if the administration really wishes to close the shortfall by 2020, it would have to appoint more than 180 IAS officers every year. The government has agreed to hire 180 IAS and IPS officers per year based on this advice.
The main question arises if the union commission has a lack of officers, why doesn’t the government appoint more than 180 officials and expand the number of slots available for direct recruitment through the UPSC civil services exam? Thousands of young people around the nation who aspire to be IAS officers will be overjoyed by such a step. Nevertheless, the government has already said that it is unable to increase the number of openings due to legitimate concerns.
The following are the reasons why the amount of posts occupied by direct recruitment through the UPSC CSE has not expanded:
- The LBSNAA presently has a cohort capacity of only 180 officers.
- Expanding the number of officials could have an influence on overall quality.
- The administration also does not plan on changing the civil service’s pyramidal structure.
Even if the opportunities get doubled, competition is likely to remain as fierce as it is now. In fact, the aspirants should not be concerned with the number of seats available; instead, they should devote all of their might and intelligence to passing the civil services exam.
