There are 1,472 vacancies in IAS across India.
A few months back, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha that a total of 3,393 posts of civil service officers are currently vacant across the country.
The UPSC exam, known for its rigorous selection process, serves as a gateway to some of the most coveted positions in the Indian bureaucracy, including the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Every year, thousands of candidates from diverse educational backgrounds and regions across the country appear for these exams to fulfill their dreams of serving the nation.
However, despite the huge number of applicants, the limited number of seats available for the IAS (only 180 seats) has sparked debate and discussion about the reasons for this disparity. It is believed that many factors contribute to the less number of successful candidates every year but the main reason behind it is given below.
A few months back, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh informed the Lok Sabha that a total of 3,393 posts of civil service officers are currently vacant across the country. This includes 1,472 posts in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 864 posts in the Indian Police Service (IPS) and 1,057 posts in the Indian Forest Service (IFS). However, he disclosed that at present 6,789 posts of IAS officers, 4,984 posts of IPS officers and 3,191 posts of IFS officers have been sanctioned. At the same time, at present, the number of existing IAS officers across the country is 5,317, the number of IPS officers is 4,120 and the number of IFS officers is 2,134.
Despite the large number of vacancies, the number of vacancies sanctioned for the IAS each year remains at 180 for one reason—the Baswan Committee (2016 report) believes that the quality of administrative service may be compromised. Moreover, the selection of more than 180 candidates will also exceed the capacity of Lal Bahadur Shastri Administrative Academy (LBSNAA), Mussoorie. The Union Minister had earlier pointed out that if more candidates are selected, the career pyramid of IAS officers will also deteriorate and the biggest impact will be on officers holding senior positions in the Government of India.