An Inverted Pyramid

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: Bureaucracy in Andhra Pradesh looks like an inverted pyramid -- wide and heavy on the top and narrow and trifle at the bottom.
The state has as many as 10 officers of the Chief Secretary\Special Chief Secretary rank, over 80 officers of the Principal Secretary rank and over 70 of the Secretary rank.
In contrast, eight of the 23 districts have non-IAS officers as joint collectors, which indicates a severe shortage of junior officers. Similarly, 29 posts of deputy secretary\joint secretary and additional secretary in the Secretariat have been allotted for the IAS cadre but not more than three or four officers are serving in those posts.
While administration at the district level and Integrated Tribal Development Agencies is suffering due to shortage of joint collector-rank officers, administrative business in the Secretariat is also worst hit due to absence of junior and middle-level officers. "So worse is the scene that efficient hands are missing even to draft GOs. A pitiable state indeed," secretary of a key department remarked. The many goof-ups and legal cases over many GOs in recent times are being attributed to the poor drafting.
"I used to draft many GOs myself to ensure they are foolproof and get them issued by the secretary concerned," a senior official said, recounting his experience as the commissioner of prohibition and excise.
Junior and middle level officers are said to be showing no inclination to work as joint secretary or additional secretary in the Secretariat, resulting in lack of hands in seat of state administration. Even key departments like revenue, finance and municipal administration are devoid of eligible IAS officers below the ranks of principal secretary and secretary.
The state bureaucracy now has at least 20 officers of different Central Services like Indian Railway Technical Service, Indian Revenue Service and others working on "deputation." These officers, who have no knowledge of the state subjects and laws, are posted in key departments but are allegedly serving no purpose. "The only eligibility, apparently, for most of these officers on deputation is the suffix to their names. Otherwise, they would not have found a place in the state administration," senior bureaucrats aver.
"The IAS or IPS cadre review in the state has not been done for over a decade now. The needs of the administration have changed significantly but we are unable to get young officers allotted. We are now preparing a report for cadre review so that we can prevail upon the Government of India to allot more direct recruits to the state," a senior official of the General Administration Department said.
Till the time a proper cadre review is done, the state will have to bear with the shortage of efficient officers. And unless political interference in bureaucratic postings stops, the rot will only spread.