The gap between in-service officers and the existing vacancies raises concerns about the efficiency of governance and the government’s ability to infuse fresh minds into the services, amid a growing manpower crisis.

According to data presented by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, a total of 2,834 posts remain vacant across the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and the IFS. Even the Prime Minister’s much-touted initiative to bring domain experts from the private sector into the bureaucracy has resulted in an average of only nine appointments annually since 2018.

Vacant Posts

The Minister provided the details in a written response to two separate questions from Rajya Sabha members John Brittas and Ramji Lal Suman, as the government data revealed a major gap between the government’s intent on modernising the bureaucracy and the ground reality.

Since 2018, only 63 lateral appointments have been made at the levels of Joint Secretary, Director and Deputy Secretary across 23 Ministries. In contrast to countries such as the UK, Singapore, and the US, where lateral entry forms a significant part of filling bureaucratic positions, India remains far behind.

Experts argue that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to bring specialised expertise into governance has encountered resistance from within the bureaucracy itself.

IFS Officers Crunch

Meanwhile, as far as the shortfall in the number of full-time bureaucrats is concerned, Foreign Service personnel are operating at barely two-thirds of their sanctioned strength. Currently, only 2,164 IFS officers are managing the country’s foreign missions and diplomatic affairs. India's diplomatic capabilities have been under strain as there are 1,029 vacancies out of 3,193 sanctioned posts. 

The IAS cadre has 1,300 vacancies against a sanctioned strength of 6,877 (18.9% vacant posts). At present, 5,577 IAS officers are in service.

Similarly, the IPS, responsible for maintaining law and order and internal security duties, also faces a 9.9% shortage, with 505 vacancies out of 5,099 sanctioned posts.