With the Union Government allowing one more post in the Apex Scale, the Odisha Government would now have four such posts in the IAS Cadre.
While Chief Secretary, Member of Board of Revenue, Chief Administrator KBK posts were in the Apex Scale, now the post of Development Commissioner-cum-ACS & Secretary to Planning and Convergence Department has been allowed in this scale.
So, now, four more posts can be created by the State Government making it to eight in the Additional Chief Secretary rank, said an official. The Union Government has increased the cadre strength of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers by allowing 11 more posts in a recent review of cadre. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has informed the State Government in this regard, official sources said. While the cadre strength for IAS officers in Odisha was 237, it has been increased to 248. Earlier, there were 11 posts in the Principal Secretary rank and now, it has been increased to 13.
The Commissioner-cum-Secretary-rank posts were 39, which have been made 36. However, Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary and Deputy Secretary posts in the IAS cadre have been increased from 20 to 24.
Cadre review is done in five years, but this time consultation between Centre and State Government took a longer period. The last cadre review was done in 2014. The Senior Duty posts, which were 129, have been increased to 135.