BHUBANESWAR: The promotion of four IAS officers to the apex pay scale by the State government on Saturday has raised several eyebrows as it not only violates the IAS (Cadre) Rules but also does not justify the necessity of so many officers at the top echelon of the bureaucracy.
The approved strength of IAS officers in the Chief Secretary cadre in the State is four. Apart from the Chief Secretary; Member, Board of Revenue; Chief Administrator KBK and Development Commissioner are cadre posts.
As per the IAS Cadre Rules, the State government can operate a maximum equal number of posts in ex-cadre taking the total number of posts in the apex scale (level-17 in the pay matrix) to eight. The 7th Pay Commission has fixed the salary of officers at the apex level at Rs 2.25 lakh per month.
The four IAS officers (1991 batch) who were given a promotion to the rank of Additional Chief Secretary were due for promotion to the apex scale from January 1, 2021 on completion of 30 years of their service.
However, their promotion was delayed for a year as there was no vacancy in the apex scale. There were 10 officers in apex scale as against the eight cadre and ex-cadre posts.
Additional Chief Secretaries Mona Sharma and Sanjeev Chopra were in excess of the cadre strength. Three IAS officers became surplus in the ex-cadre after the return of GVV Sarma from Central deputation in May 2021.
“There is no vacancy in the apex scale even now. The number of officers in this scale has gone up to 14 after the new promotions. The State government created temporary ex-cadre posts without approval of the Centre and this is against the rules,” said an officer dealing with IAS Cadre Rules in the General Administration department.
As per the rules, the State government has to take the approval of the Department of Personnel and Training - the cadre control authority of IAS officers - for promotion of these officers to the apex scale with the justification of their requirement. As such there is no need for so many officers at the top level, sources maintained.
“This is not the first time that the government created temporary ex-cadre posts in excess of the approved strength. This happened in 2017 and 2018 to allow promotion of 1986 and 1987 batch officers respectively,” the officer said.
The IAS officers are the favoured lot while a majority of the government employees (of about 351 cadres) are suffering silently without career progression for years due to the unusual delay in holding the department promotion committee meeting or under the plea that vacancy is not available.