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New Delhi: Appointments of Group A officers from the IAS, IPS, IRS, etc through promotions reduced by more than 50 per cent in the central government between 2016 and 2018.

According to an answer to a question asked in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, the number of appointments made through promotion at the level of deputy secretary, joint secretary, additional secretary and secretary was 2,918 in 2018.

The number for 2016 and 2017 was 5,953 and 5,944, respectively, Minister of State Jitendra Singh said in a written reply.

In the Government of India, appointments are largely made through promotions of Group officers drawn from the IAS, IPS etc, although there are direct recruits too, for example, those picked through lateral entry. All the above-mentioned posts, starting from deputy secretary up to secretary, are promotional.

Officials in the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) said the reduction could be a result of ongoing court cases, fewer retirements, etc, but none could explain the decline of over 50 per cent.

There was no reply to text messages sent by ThePrint to the DoPT spokesperson until the time of publishing this report.

A senior official in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which advises the government on promotions of Group A officers, said they approved whatever number of potential appointments they received from the government.

“This (the reduction) can only be explained by the government, since the UPSC does not have the powers to suggest more number of officers for appointment,” the official added.

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Fall steeper among SCs, STs

Among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), the decline since 2016 has been even steeper.

In 2016, 864 SCs were appointed to these positions through promotions, but the number fell by 57 per cent to 373 in 2018.

While the number of STs appointed through promotion was 377 in 2016, the number fell to 157 by 2018 — a decline of 58 per cent.

Former DoPT secretary S.K. Sarkar said all promotions in these positions took place through committees and panels of officers. “If the committee does not meet, there are no promotions,” he added.

“But the normal practice is that you fill up vacancies through promotions as soon as possible,” he said. “This does not seem normal.”

The drastic drop in appointments through promotions comes even as there are massive vacancies in the central government.

According to DoPT data tabled in Parliament, the central government has over 6.83 lakh vacancies.

Even so, the government has also been reducing the number of civil servants being recruited by the UPSC. As reported by ThePrint last month, the UPSC has reduced the number of IAS, IPS and IFS officers to be recruited this year by 100, continuing the trend of picking fewer civil servants each year.

“It is extremely confusing that at a time when there are massive vacancies, neither are more officers being recruited, nor are more officers being promoted,” said an IAS officer who did not want to be named. “How can the vacancies be filled like this?”

The sharp fall in promotions comes at a time when the government is looking to scale up its lateral entry scheme, which seeks to tap private talent for domain expertise. For now, the government is looking to fill up 40 director/deputy secretary level posts through lateral entry.

Also Read: Na tired, Na retired — How Modi govt uses Vajpayee line to hold on to retired IAS officers

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