India’s three premier All India Services — theIndian Administrative Service(IAS),Indian Police Service(IPS) andIndian Forest Service(IFoS) — are facing a significant manpower shortage, with more than 2,800 posts lying vacant, the government informed Parliament on Thursday.
In a written reply in theRajya Sabha, Minister of State for PersonnelJitendra Singhcited data from the Civil List compiled as of January 1, 2025.
According to the official figures:
IAS: 1,300 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 6,877
IPS: 505 vacancies out of 5,099 sanctioned posts
IFoS: 1,029 vacancies out of 3,193 sanctioned posts
Overall, 2,834 posts remain vacant out of a combined authorised strength of 15,169 officers — translating to an overall vacancy rate of nearly 18.7%.
The service-wise vacancy percentages highlight the scale of the shortfall:
IAS: Approximately 18.9% vacancy rate
IPS: Around 9.9% vacancy rate
IFoS: Approximately 32.2% vacancy rate — the highest among the three
The IFoS appears to be the worst affected, with nearly one-third of its sanctioned posts unfilled.
Cadre data reveals notable gaps across several large states.
Uttar Pradesh, with the highest authorised IAS strength of 652 posts, has 571 officers in position.
Madhya Pradesh has 391 IAS officers against 459 sanctioned posts.
Maharashtra has 359 IAS officers against 435 sanctioned positions.
Similar shortfalls were reported in the IPS across states such as Bihar, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The IFoS shows sizeable gaps in multiple cadres, indicating stress in forest and environmental administration capacities.
Responding to a question fromJohn Brittasof theCommunist Party of India (Marxist), the minister also shared data on representation of OBC, SC and ST candidates through direct recruitment over the past five years (Civil Services Examination 2020–2024).
Appointments during this period were as follows:
IAS
245 OBC candidates
135 SC candidates
67 ST candidates
IPS
255 OBC candidates
141 SC candidates
71 ST candidates
IFoS
231 OBC candidates
95 SC candidates
48 ST candidates
The All India Services play a central role in governance, law enforcement, and environmental administration across states and the Centre. Persistent vacancies can strain administrative capacity, delay decision-making, and increase workload pressures on officers in position.
The data shared in Parliament underscores both the scale of the staffing gap and the continuing efforts to maintain representation across reserved categories through direct recruitment.
As governance demands expand with population growth and policy complexity, addressing these vacancies remains a key administrative challenge.
