Thiruvananthapuram (19.11.2024): Not just the court works are affected due to shortage of judges in judiciary, many government departments in Kerala too have acute shortage of IAS officers delaying clearing of files piled up in secretariate numbering around three lakhs. The government officials are burdened with four to five portfolios, while others handle significantly fewer. This has left bureaucrats struggling to handle even critical departments effectively.
At present, Kerala has 126 IAS officers against the sanctioned strength of 231. Several officers are on central deputation and the shortage is further exacerbated by some on election duty in other states. With senior officers Manoj Joshi (IAS: 1989: KL) and Rajesh Kumar Singh (IAS: 1989: KL) serving at the Centre, Sarada Muraleedharan (IAS: 1990: KL) was appointed as Chief Secretary.
Due to shortage of officers, there is a growing backlog of files in the state. K R Jyothilal (IAS: 1993: KL) currently oversees four key departments: Public Administration, forest, power, and transport. A Koushigan (IAS: 2009: KL), 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 (IAS: 1993: KL) manages four departments, while Biju Prabhakar (IAS: 2004: KL) and Tinku Biswal (IAS: 1993: KL) are handling three each.
Shortage of IAS leaves 3 lakh files pending in Secretariat
By IndianMandarins - 2024-11-19 12:21:00
Thiruvananthapuram (19.11.2024): Not just the court works are affected due to shortage of judges in judiciary, many government departments in Kerala too have acute shortage of IAS officers delaying clearing of files piled up in secretariate numbering around three lakhs. The government officials are burdened with four to five portfolios, while others handle significantly fewer. This has left bureaucrats struggling to handle even critical departments effectively.
At present, Kerala has 126 IAS officers against the sanctioned strength of 231. Several officers are on central deputation and the shortage is further exacerbated by some on election duty in other states. With senior officers Manoj Joshi (IAS: 1989: KL) and Rajesh Kumar Singh (IAS: 1989: KL) serving at the Centre, Sarada Muraleedharan (IAS: 1990: KL) was appointed as Chief Secretary.
Due to shortage of officers, there is a growing backlog of files in the state. K R Jyothilal (IAS: 1993: KL) currently oversees four key departments: Public Administration, forest, power, and transport. A Koushigan (IAS: 2009: KL), 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 (IAS: 1993: KL) manages four departments, while Biju Prabhakar (IAS: 2004: KL) and Tinku Biswal (IAS: 1993: KL) are handling three each.
