Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during her four-day visit to the capital last week, raised the shortage of IAS officers in the state with the Modi government.ThePrint has learned.
In April, Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi wrote to the central government demanding more IAS and IPS officers as the state planned to create more districts for better administration.
Earlier this month, seven more districts In addition to the existing 23 were announced.
“The CM has announced the creation of seven more districts, and this would require more officers. This shortfall has persisted since the number of districts increased in 2017. We have urged the Center to step up strength, but no action has been taken so far,” a senior Bengal minister told ThePrint.
In January, Mamta protested against the Modi government proposed amendment in seroBye-laws to ensure availability of sufficient number of IAS officers for central deputation.
Bengal has a sanctioned strength of 378 IAS officers but less than 79, making it fourth in the list of states with the highest number of IAS vacancies, after Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Data presented by Jitendra SinghMinister of State, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), in Rajya Sabha on July 21.
According to official DoPT data, Bengal has been allotted 12 to 15 IAS officers/year since 2016, which is second among all states after Uttar Pradesh.
Sources in the state secretariat Nabanna said that when Mamata became chief minister for the first time in 2011, the number of IAS was 359, which was 12 per cent more than the previous CPI(M) government. In 2016, this number increased to 377, but it has come down to 299 currently.
Sources in Nabanna said that an estimated 100 officers are required to fill the vacant posts.
In Delhi, a senior civil servant indicated that the central government’s hands were tied at a time of shortage of IAS officers.
“There are states which are in worse condition… The Center is also facing a crisis. The distribution of state cadres is generally decided after the UPSC exam every year in consultation with the states, DoPT and UPSC. Cadre reviews also take place,” said the senior civil servant.
Admitting that there is a need for more civil servants as Mamata has announced the formation of new districts, the IAS officer said, “If needed, it” [state] State service officers can also be promoted. The Center can no longer increase the recruitment of IAS officers. The government has also mentioned this in the Parliament. States need to make maximum use of the officers already with them.”
Read also: ‘Destroying History’ – Why Mamata’s plan to create new districts is being opposed in Bengal?
a fix within the state
A senior official working in the Chief Minister’s Office said that IAS officers are given priority over their West Bengal Civil Services (WBCS) counterparts because of their “hold on the groundwork”.
“Bengal needs a large number of IAS officers as there is a perception that young bureaucrats perform better. Most of the states depend heavily on them for the role of district administrators,” the official said. “The dynamic movement of IAS officers between Central and State postings gives them the feeling of working at the grassroots level with good knowledge of central policies.”
A senior official of the secretariat said that one-third of the bureaucracy in the state consists of ‘promote officers’. As the phrase suggests, this category of officers enters administration through the State Civil Services Examination and is later inducted into the IAS cadre on the recommendation of the State.
Mamata is said to be taking the IAS shortage as an opportunity to strengthen the WBSC by attracting more officers from within the state to fill the void.
According to the senior Nabanna officer cited above, the chief minister is keen to deploy “qualified WBCS officers” in positions traditionally reserved for IAS officers.
“The Chief Secretary has constituted a committee to fill up key administrative posts from amongst the new WBCS officers and those already in service in the newly announced districts,” the source said.
In May, Mamata had announced Annual General Meeting of WBCS Officers Association He plans to increase the strength of WBCS to 200 officers.
Apart from announcing incentives, including a monthly allowance of Rs 10,000, for senior WBCS officers reaching their maximum pay scale, the CM also said that the officers would hold the departmental secretary posts, which are usually taken up by the IAS.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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