Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Tuesday that the state has decided to reduce the sanctioned strength of its IAS cadre from 153 to 130. He said the state currently has more administrative officers than it needs.
Sukhu said the state government has approached the Centre with the proposal to reduce the IAS cadre. He added that he would like to see the strength eventually brought down further to around 110 officers.
"There are 153 IAS officers in Himachal Pradesh, and many of them are handling very small departments. Their abilities are also not being fully used," Sukhu said. He said the government was also looking at reducing the IPS cadre. The IFS cadre, meanwhile, has already been proposed to come down from 117 to 83 posts.
Sukhu said restructuring the administrative cadres could help the government save around Rs 100-150 crore in revenue expenditure.
Responding to concerns that fewer senior officers could affect the administration, Sukhu said the state would still have enough officers to run its affairs.
"Officers are there. Who says there are no officers?" he said. Sukhu added that the government would continue to take decisions it believes are necessary for the state's interests despite criticism.
He said the cadre restructuring was part of the government's wider "Vyavastha Parivartan" or systemic change initiative. The move, he said, was aimed at making Himachal Pradesh more financially self-reliant.
Sukhu said the state has been under financial pressure since the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) was discontinued. He noted that the grant had been available to Himachal Pradesh since 1952.
"Some decisions may be difficult, but they are in the interest of the state. Such decisions must be taken without worrying about their political impact during elections," the Chief Minister said.
Speaking to reporters separately, Sukhu said Himachal had more administrative posts than required. As a result, the skills of several officers were not being fully utilised, while the government continued to bear the additional cost. He also spoke about plans to review and rationalise the strength of IAS and Indian Forest Service officers in the state.
Sukhu said the aim was not to remove officers but to maintain an administrative setup that matches the actual requirements of the state. He said the proposed changes were based on Himachal Pradesh's administrative needs and financial situation. The government, he added, wants to streamline the system as part of its efforts to make the state self-reliant.
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