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| Numbers continue going down; IAS prefer New Delhi over J&K, KAS face induction blues | | J&K on verge of administrative collapse | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Oct 30: Alongside facing acute shortage of IAS officers, Jammu and Kashmir government has failed to bring back officers who have gone on central deputation or stop those who have applied afresh.
Of the sanctioned strength of 137 officers, Jammu and Kashmir is already short of around 29 IAS officers. 21 officers, which include 7 of the top ten senior officers, are on central deputation. 3 IAS officers would be retiring by the end of this year. These include P.G. Dhar Chakraborty, Sheikh Aejaz Iqbal and Shivdev Singh Jamwal.
10 more would leave the state services by the end of 2014 and 15 would superannuate when the year 2015 comes to a close. A total of 28 officers would leave the state IAS cadre in the next three years. And going by present strength, staggered pace of induction of KAS officers into IAS coupled with relatively few state subjects making it to IAS, state would be left with just 80 officers.
Eagerness of non-state subjects to prefer central deputation over spending most of the time in the state would further reduce this number. If profile of IAS officers available on the website of GAD is any indication, state would be left with just 60 odd IAS officers manning all the top positions in the state administration. This would make the situation worrisome and create administrative problems for the government.
If the GAD figures are any indication, state government would be forced to handover administration to relatively fresh and inexperienced officers. Ramban and Kishtwar incidents are indicative of the danger of allowing young and inexperienced officers to take over administrative responsibilities in tough and terror hit places. State's inability to give KAS its due on one hand side and ensure more people from state qualify IAS is likely to create more administrative problems in the near future.
This scenario gets more worrisome when one looks at non-state subject IAS officers preferring to stay more on deputation. Ex-Chief Secretary, a 1977 batch IAS officer Madhav Lal spent more than 16 years on central deputation. And by the time, he retires in June 2015; Lal would have spent 18 years of his 38 year service in New Delhi. This is exactly 2 year less then what he spent in the state allotted to him.
Such is the attitude of state government that IAS officers prefer not coming to the state even after their specified period of deputation ends. Another 1977 batch officer, Parvez Dewan left J&K in April 2006 and had not returned since then. If the sources are to be believed, Dewan was planning a comeback to his home state but his plans changed after the state government plainly refused to accommodate him in the state Public Service Commission after his retirement in October 2014.
Another senior officer Pankaj Jain returned back to New Delhi within just four years of his repatriation from the central deputation in December 2006. He has already spent 14 years on central deputation. This includes fresh tenure in New Delhi which started on January 4, 2010. Jain is unlikely to return before year 2015 comes to a close. An experienced officer, Jain would have contributed immensely towards the progress and development of the state.
Most curious is the case of 1979 batch IAS officer P.G. Dhar Chakraborty, who is retiring by the end of this month. He preferred to stay back in Jammu and Kashmir during the time when the state was passing through troubled times. Chakraborty remained in J&K from September 1980 to May 1998. Thereafter, he seemingly had a change of heart, which resulted in him going on central deputation in May 1998.
This was followed by Chakraborty returning to state for a brief stint in May 2003. He served the state for just two years and again went on central deputation on July 2005. A 1980 batch IAS officer, Chakraborty has refused to return to the state. If the sources are to be believed, Chakraborty has cited too much political interference in the administrative matters as the reason for not returning to the state. A number of other officers are facing the same problem. State government needs to take into the account the increasing mess and make efforts for preventing the administration from going to dogs in the very near future. |
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