Uttar Pradesh lacks bench strength of eligible state-level bureaucrats: Data

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party may have dared the central government to recall all IAS officers from Uttar Pradesh in wake of the Durga Shakti Nagpal case, but data shows that the state lacks the bench strength of eligible state-level bureaucrats who could slip into the roles of the centre-appointed officials and make good its threat.

UP has very few eligible officers who could theoretically fill in the more than 200 posts presently held by the centre-appointed IAS officers, and its threat to replace them with state-level bureaucrats could leave a gaping hole in its administration and exacerbate its many governance challenges.

The state, faced with a shortage of IAS officers, is already struggling to find enough officials to post as District Magistrates and Sub-Divisional Magistrates in its 72 districts, thereby making, for some, the comments of senior SP leaders more bluster than a considered threat. Senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav had on Monday said that the state can well be run with the help of state-level bureaucrats, known as Provincial Civil Service or PCS officers and can be "promoted" to the IAS. While the state has many PCS officers, just 36 are presently part of the IAS after being promoted.

Presently, there are just 376 IAS officers posted in the UP cadre against an authorized strength of 592, leaving a shortage of 216 IAS officers in the state, data from the centre's Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) shows.