An increasing number of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers are running away to the Union Government, thanks to the attraction of the Centre, where honest and upright officers are picked up for crucial and economic assignments.
like North Eastern States, bureaucrats from Odisha feel comfortable to move to the Centre. According to the latest report of the Government of India’s Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) at least 92 per cent of the Central Deputation Reserve (CDR) of Odisha Cadre is already subscribed.
With the authorised strength of 226 IAS officers for the Odisha administration, the CDR is 49. And actually, there are quite less IAS officers, and out of them 36 are serving at the Centre. Some of the officers are also on inter-cadre postings in Bihar and Delhi State.
Such a situation is slowly arising in the State, said a senior member of the IAS Association of Odisha. Many officers are not feeling comfortable as appreciation for their performances seems absent, said he.
From the States like Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur, Tripura, cent per cent of the CDRs are filled up. However, hardly 56 per cent of the CDRs is filled up from States like Andhra Pradesh.
In case of Chhattisgarh, only 26 per cent of the CDR is so far filled up. In case of Jharkhand, it is 50 per cent; in case of West Bengal 60 per cent while in case of Bihar it is 45 per cent.
As Odisha is facing an acute shortage of IAS officers, the State has been urging the Union Government to allocate more and more officers every year. But ironically, the State Government is not able to retain its officers, pointed out a Principal Secretary.
He revealed at least six senior IAS Officers are presently eyeing Union Government posts; however, their cases are put on hold under various alibis.
On one hand, many IAS officers are not given right type of posts and shuffled time and again; and on the other, when they are asking for Central deputation, they are denied to avail such an opportunity, rued an officer.