Bihar today may be facing acute shortage of IAS officers simply because those who have gone on deputation to the Centre do not want to return because of political, administrative and personal reasons. The shortage of officers are affecting the work in the state.

Not only that several IAS officers posted in Bihar are eagerly waiting central deputation. Initially, the excuse was that the IAS officers want deputation in the national capital because the work culture was alleged to be poor in the state during the then Rabri Devi government. But the tragedy is that the number of those officers going out have increased and not decreased, thus clearly indicating that many of them do want to serve in the state or are over-ambitious.

Similarly when Jharkhand was created in November 2000 an overwhelming number of them applied for the cadre of that new state. One of the honest IAS officers, with a very good record said that he too wants to go to Jharkhand because of the witch-hunting going on in the state as it was a high time of animal husbandry scam probe. Even he feared that he may fall in the CBI net as long back he had served as the district magistrate of Ranchi.

A central deputation gives the IAS officers a big exposure. Besides, it is good for the future prospects of their children.
At present 42 IAS officers of Bihar cadre are on central deputation. Nine of them are managing key departments in New Delhi as Union secretaries.
Two other IAS officers are on inter-state deputation and six are attending training programmes.
Apart from R K Singh and S K Sharma, A K Upadhyay is serving as secretary road and highways and Naveen Kumar is secretary urban development.
The state has strength of 206 IAS officers and several officers including five, who are serving in Patna on an inter-state deputation, are holding dual charges.

Some IAS officers of the Bihar cadre have been deployed in New Delhi for more than a decade. This despite the Union cabinet secretariat's recent notification that state cadre IAS officers on central deputation would have to return to their home cadres after serving five years.

S P Seth, a 1975 batch IAS officer, has been serving as an advisor to the planning commission and A N Sinha, also from the same batch, has been serving as secretary in the pachayat raj ministry since 2001. Two other officers B K Sinha (1975 batch), secretary in rural development ministry and S K Sharma (1976 batch) have been on central deputation since 2003. A K Upadhayay, a 1975 batch officer, has been serving in the capital since 2004.
There are more than six IAS officers, who have completed their five-year term in New Delhi, but are still reluctant to return to Bihar.

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