Severe shortage of IAS, IPS officers continues to haunt Telangana administration

HYDERABAD: Even seven-and-a-half years after Telangana came into being, the state is facing severe shortage of IAS and IPS officers leading to an administrative logjam as the key departments are either being handled by incharges or retired bureaucrats. The demand for more officers has increased in the past two years, especially after enhancement of districts to 33 from earlier 10 districts.
According to officials, during the bifurcation of the state, the Centre had allocated only 208 IAS officers and 119 IPS officers while the state requires at least 250 IAS officers and another 200 IPS officers for various positions. Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been asking the Centre to allocate more All India Services (AIS) officers for the past few years and submitted representations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah on various occasions. During his meeting with Shah a few months ago, the CM asked to enhance the IPS officers’ cadre strength to 139 to 195.

But, there is a criticism against the government for not utilising the services of existing AIS officers, especially IAS and IPS officers effectively. While some officers are holding more than one crucial departments, some departments are being given to retired IAS officers. For instance, V Anil Kumar, a retired IAS officer, was given important postings such as commissioner of civil supplies department and also endowments commissioner. Some other departments like education are being headed by Sandeep Kumar Sultania, who is also secretary of panchayat raj and also animal husbandry departments. Similarly, Neetu Prasad has been handling two crucial departments — as commissioner of commercial taxes and also member-secretary of Telangana State Pollution Control Board. Municipal administration special chief secretary Arvind Kumar is incharge commissioner of information and public relations department and also commissioner of HMDA. Special chief secretary K Ramakrishna Rao is incharge of planning department apart from finance wing.
There is a feeling in the IAS and IPS officers that some senior officers’ services were not being utilised properly by confining them to the same post for several years. “A senior IAS officer of secretary cadre is not being shifted in a department in the city for almost six years though he made a request to the government. Similarly, an officer in the welfare department is also seeking change in his posting,” sources in the government said.
The situation is same even in districts with Siddipet and Bhadradri-Kothagudem not having a full-fledged collectors for the past few months. In IPS officers’ postings too, some officers were in the same posts in the past five to six years while it is a general norm that they should be relocated after two to three years of their existing postings.