The Centre, on Thursday, informed the Parliament about a shortage of Government officers at the top level, mentioning that there are 1,316 and 586 vacant posts of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS). Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that, out of the total sanctioned strength of 6,858 IAS, there were 5,542 officers in-position, as on January 1, 2024, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. There were 4,469 IPS officers working against their sanctioned strength of 5,055, Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel told the RS.

Of the 1,316 vacant posts of IAS, 794 were meant for direct recruitment, and 522 were promotion posts, he said. Of the 586 vacant IPS posts, 209 were of direct recruitment, and 377 were promotion posts, the Minister said.

There are 2,151 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers in-position, against their sanctioned strength of 3,193, Singh said. Of the 1,042 vacant IFS posts, 503 were for direct recruitment and 539 promotion posts, he added. The IAS, IPS and IFS officers are selected through the Civil Services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) annually. The minister, also shared details of appointments made to IAS, IPS and IFS from General, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) during the last five years.

During the 2022 civil services examination (CSE) year, 75 General, 45 OBC, 29 SC and 13 ST appointments were made in the IAS. Similarly, 83 General, 53 OBC, 31 SC and 13 ST were appointed in the IPS during the same period.

A total of 43 General, 51 OBC, 22 SC and 11 ST appointments were made in the IFS during CSE 2024, according to the data shared by the minister. The Government also stated that Central ministries and departments are directed from time-to-time to fill up vacancies in a time-bound manner.

Singh said the "Government is aware that every ministry/ department/PSU under central Government is facing staff shortage up to 30 to 60 per cent due to nil recruitment or very less recruitment since 2019. Vacant posts are being filled up in mission mode through the Rozgar Melas launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 22, 2022, he said. "13 Rozgar Melas have been held at Central level in 40-45 cities across various states/Union Territories. Several lakh appointment letters have been distributed in the Rozgar Melas by various ministries/ departments, their attached organisations and CPSUs etc," he added.

Instructions have been issued to all ministries/departments of the central Government to constitute an in-house committee for identification of backlog reserved vacancies, to study the root cause of such vacancies, to initiate measures to remove the factors causing such vacancies and to fill them up through special recruitment drives, he said. Further, each ministry/department is required to set up a Special Reservation Cell under the direct control of the Liaison Officer to assist her/him in discharge of duties, Singh added.