A shortfall too big to ignore

A 23% gap between the authorised strength of IAS officials and their actual number raises questions

The gap between the authorised strength of officials belonging to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the actual number of such officials functioning from different states and at the Centre last year was estimated at 1,470. At 23 per cent of the authorised strength, the gap is quite significant, though no comparable data for previous years are available to indicate if the gap has been widening for some time. But this gap alone is sufficient to indicate the state of India’s famed steel frame.
 
Two questions arise from these numbers. One, why have the governments in states and at