State grapples with officer shortage across administrative services

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is grappling with a shortage of officers across several administrative services, with hundreds of sanctioned posts lying vacant. Official figures presented in the state assembly on Monday revealed that 42 IAS posts, 67 IPS posts, and 66 IFS posts remain unfilled, while the situation is more severe in state cadres such as OAS, OPS, and OFS.The Odisha Police Service (OPS) has 146 vacant posts, the Odisha Forest Service (OFS) shows a shortfall of 473 officers, and the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) has 330 vacant posts. The OPS has a sanctioned strength of 851 officers, the OFS 1,058 officers, and the OAS 2,248 officers.These figures came to light after MLA Pradeep Kumar Dishari raised a question in the assembly regarding the number of sanctioned posts in the IAS, IPS, IFS, OAS, OPS, and OFS cadres, and how many of them were currently filled. He also sought details of officers deputed outside the state and abroad.Responding to the query, CM Mohan Charan Mahapatra informed the House that 27 IAS officers, 28 IPS officers, and 7 IFS officers are currently on deputation to the Union govt. According to the chief minister, the state has a sanctioned strength of 248 IAS officers, 195 IPS officers, and 141 IFS officers.