Amid huge debt and increasing administrative expenses, the Himachal Pradesh government has taken a big and important decision to cut down on the state’s bureaucracy. The government led by Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has decided to reduce the sanctioned strength of IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers in the state. For this, a formal proposal will be sent to the Central Government. The government argues that maintaining a large cadre puts an additional burden of about Rs 200 crore on the state exchequer every year, which has now become mandatory to be reduced.
More than one lakh crore loan and huge administrative expenses
Himachal Pradesh is currently burdened with the financial burden of debt of more than Rs 1 lakh crore. The state government is continuously trying to take such steps so that unnecessary expenses can be controlled. According to government data, huge sums are spent not only on the salaries of officials but also on their support staff, government vehicles, accommodation and other amenities. According to a senior officer, on an average, more than Rs 50 lakh is spent annually on a senior officer. In such a situation, reducing the number of cadre can provide huge relief to the government exchequer worth crores of rupees.
Proposal to reduce 23 posts of IAS and 35 posts of IFS
According to media reports, Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has clarified that a proposal has been prepared to reduce the sanctioned number of IAS officers in Himachal from 153 to 130, that is, 23 posts will be directly reduced in the cadre. Although the Chief Minister believes that to further streamline the administrative structure, it should be brought between 100 to 110, but in view of the possible displeasure of the officers, at present only a reduction of 23 posts is being proposed. Along with this, there is a preparation to reduce the existing 118 posts of Indian Forest Service (IFS) to 83 i.e. 35 posts. Apart from this, the cadre of 96 IPS posts is also being considered to be reduced.
‘There is no need for such a big bureaucracy’
Chief Minister Sukhu says that a hill state like Himachal Pradesh has no need of such a huge administrative and bureaucratic structure. The government wants to give preference to such dedicated officers who can implement the welfare schemes of the state with honesty and complete seriousness. It has been seen many times that some officers do not have enough work or their talents are not fully utilized. Keeping this in mind, the government is now issuing NOC to the officers going on central deputation without any delay and they are also being relieved immediately.
There will be improvement in the structure of forest department also
The state government can also mention the ground reality of the forest department in this proposal to be sent to the Centre. There is a large and heavy structure of officers at the higher levels of the department, while there is a severe shortage of staff at the ground level, which adversely affects the management and functioning of the forests. This step of the government is being considered as a big effort towards financial discipline, so that both administrative efficiency and economic balance can be improved in the coming times.