Hyderabad: Even after a decade of persistent appeals, Telangana’s long-running shortage of IAS officers remains far from resolved. While the Centre last week marginally increased the state’s IAS cadre strength from 208 to 218, officials say the addition of 10 officers falls well short of what is required to manage an expanding administrative machinery shaped by new districts, new institutions, and growing urban sprawl.Since its formation, Telangana has repeatedly flagged the need for at least 50 additional IAS officers to ensure effective governance. However, official sources admit that the actual number of officers available on the ground is far lower than even the sanctioned strength.
Sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said the state faces two core problems: The gap between sanctioned posts and officers actually serving in the state, and the steady rise in demand for new positions. “Though the Telangana cadre strength of IAS officers sanctioned by the Centre was 208 earlier and 218 now, the officers actually working in the state were about 170, below the cadre strength. Of them, some officers go on central deputation. This leads to a shortage of officers at every level,” a senior official said. The Centre periodically reviews cadre strength and allocates officers accordingly. For nearly 10 years, Telangana has sought an additional 25 to 30 IAS officers. The latest revision by the department of personnel and training (DoPT), which raised the sanctioned strength to 218, addressed only a fraction of the demand. “After bifurcation of the state, Telangana faced a shortage of IAS officers as AP got more officers in the bifurcation. Apart from that, every year new posts are added to the state,” former chief secretary Somesh Kumar said. Admn requirementsOfficials said administrative requirements have expanded steadily. Several key institutions that did not exist earlier now require senior officers. HYDRAA was created only in 2024. Similarly, IAS officers are required for Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, and other specialised bodies. The increase in districts has further strained manpower. With districts rising from 10 to 33, the state now requires 66 IAS officers—one district collector and one additional collector per district. Urban expansion has added to the pressure. As the GHMC area expanded from 650 sq km to 2,050 sq km, the number of IAS officers required rose from around five or six to nearly 20. However, only 12 officers are currently posted, a senior CMO official said. Second storyHyderabad: Compounding the shortage is an acute deficit of senior officers at the principal secretary and secretary levels. In several cases, departments are either headed by junior officers or managed through additional charge arrangements. The IT and industries department is handled by a single officer, special chief secretary Sanjay Kumar. Jayesh Ranjan oversees municipal administration (core urban region) as well as tourism. General administration department secretary E Sridhar holds additional charge of BC welfare department. HMDA metropolitan commissioner Sarfaraz Ahmad manages both HMDA and metro rail. Ilambarithi handles animal husbandry while serving as full-time transport commissioner. K Shashanka holds charge of both TGIIC and Bharat Future City. The situation worsened this year with seven senior officers, including chief secretary K Rama Krishna Rao and special chief secretaries Arvind Kumar and Dana Kishore, all set to retire, forcing the govt to scout for experienced replacements. There have also been allegations of uneven deployment of officers. While some departments function without a single full-time IAS officer and rely on in-charges, others such as irrigation and roads and buildings have two IAS officers as special secretaries. Municipal administration earlier had only one senior IAS officer instead of two. Non-cadre officersOfficials acknowledged that some posts no longer require IAS officers. The DoPT recently reviewed and removed several positions from the cadre list through a gazette notification, allowing non-cadre officers to be appointed. These include posts such as additional chief commissioner of land administration, joint or deputy commissioner of commercial taxes, project officers in ITDAs, additional commissioner of GHMC, special collector in irrigation, director of marketing, OSD in resident commissioner’s office in Delhi, and director and special commissioner of revenue. The Centre also allocated 23 new district-level posts in the revised cadre strength.
