Chandigarh: The UT administration is grappling with a skewed bureaucratic structure impacting public service delivery. The structure is marred by severe overcrowding at senior levels, while lower rungs suffer from acute staff shortages.According to Govt of India’s (GoI) notification dated Jan 3, 2025, there are 11 sanctioned posts of IAS officers in Chandigarh. Of these, five, excluding the chief secretary, are at the secretary level.However, the UT currently has 12 secretaries — double the sanctioned number at that level. This includes 11 IAS officers and one officer from the Central Civil Services, or CSS, who is serving as secretary, social welfare and women and child development.The IAS officers holding secretary posts also include deputy commissioner, a Haryana cadre IAS officer, who additionally holds the charge of secretary, industry; and the MC commissioner, a Punjab cadre IAS officer, who is also secretary, rural development & panchayats.All IAS officers posted in Chandigarh are deployed at the secretary level, leaving the middle rung without dedicated IAS oversight and dependent on makeshift arrangements.“The city of around 12 lakh, spread over 114 sq km, has no reason to have such a top-heavy governance system, that also at the policy level. At one time, most of the departments were handled by three senior-most IAS officers — adviser (now chief secretary), home secretary and finance secretary. With time, as the number of IAS officers posted in the city increased, sometimes even more than the sanctioned posts, nearly all of them started to get secretary-level posts,” said a retired IAS officer who served in the city.Many feel that junior-level IAS officers should be assigned posts at the director level. “This will improve implementation of UT policies, while senior IAS officers having more departments under them will improve inter-departmental coordination,” said the officer.In contrast, the middle layer has ad-hoc arrangements and lacks proper structural alignment.Currently, 16 officers from the PCS, HCS and DANICS services are serving on deputation, primarily filling joint secretary, additional secretary and director-level posts.Many of them hold multiple charges, handling both secretariat and field-level public-dealing responsibilities.The Centre’s cadre notification, however, provides for only one sanctioned post each of joint secretary and additional secretary — both meant to be handled by IAS officers.This distorted hierarchy represents a classic top-heavy bureaucratic set-up. At the same time, lower levels of the administration are plagued by severe manpower shortages.More than 1,000 posts remain vacant across senior, middle and lower levels. This includes over 400 vacancies in the common cadre of the general administration, such as clerks and stenographers.The situation is particularly grim in some departments. The MC is functioning with only about one-third of its sanctioned regular workforce, severely affecting essential civic services like sanitation, maintenance and public infrastructure upkeep.The education department alone faces a deficit of around 1,500 staff members. Recruitment has been initiated for just a fraction of these vacancies, resulting in strained teaching and administrative support in schools.“This has led to greater reliance on contractual staff, slowed decision-making, piled-up files, reduced field-level implementation and a noticeable decline in the quality of public services at the grassroots level,” said a UT official.BOX1: Sanctioned posts of IASChief secretary | 1Secretary (home) | 1Secretary (finance) | 1Secretary (urban planning/smart cities) | 1Secretaries | 2Joint secretary (finance) | 1Additional secretary | 1Excise commissioner | 1Deputy commissioner (districts) | 1Additional deputy commissioner | 1BOX2: Another joining soonAt present, there are 11 IAS officers serving with the UT. One more from the Punjab cadre is expected to join shortly from a panel forwarded by the Punjab govt. One CCS officer is also posted with the UT.Provincial services officers DANICS – 4PCS – 8HCS – 4 MSID:: 130680981 413 |
