Shortage of IAS officers leaves 3 lakh files pending in Secretariat

Thiruvananthapuram: Many government departments in Kerala have slowed down significantly due to an acute shortage of IAS officers.  

Currently, government officials are burdened with four to five portfolios, while others handle significantly fewer. This imbalance has left bureaucrats struggling to handle even critical departments effectively.

Kerala presently has only 126 IAS officers, against the sanctioned strength of 231. Several senior officers in the state have been on central deputation, and the shortage is further exacerbated by some serving as election observers in other states.

With top bureaucrats Manoj Joshi and Rajesh Kumar Singh remaining on central deputation, Sarada Muraleedharan, the next senior IAS officer, was elevated to the Chief Secretary post after V Venu's retirement. Kamala Vardhana Rao, a 1990-batch officer and senior to Sarada, is also on central deputation.

Raju Narayana Swamy, who ranks after Kamala Vardhana Rao, remains a Principal Secretary due to a career marred by disciplinary actions. The government appears disinterested in assigning him significant roles, leaving him in charge of only the Parliamentary Affairs Department.

Dr A Jayathilak, the Finance Additional Chief Secretary, is the next in line. Usually, finance secretaries are not tasked with additional responsibilities, but due to the staff shortage, Jayathilak has also been entrusted with the tax department. This department, comprising 10 sections, is one of the largest wings within the Secretariat.

The repercussions of this shortage are evident in the growing backlog of files. In the Finance Department alone, as many as 26,257 files remain pending, while the total number of unresolved files across the Secretariat has crossed three lakh. Officials attribute the delays to department secretaries juggling multiple portfolios, which hampers the decision-making process.

K R Jyothilal, a trusted government officer, currently oversees four key departments: Public Administration, forest, power, and transport.  A Koushigan, who once managed five departments simultaneously, raised concerns about the lack of time to process files.

Following his complaint, the Animal Husbandry Department was excluded from his responsibilities. Puneet Kumar manages four departments, while Biju Prabhakar and Tinku Biswal are handling three each.