The number of officers in the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Police Service and the Indian Foreign Service recruited from the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), and their overall representation in these elite services, remains obscure, as a question seeking detailed category-wise data in the Rajya Sabha was met with figures limited to direct recruits from these communities over the last four years, while data on general category recruits during the same period was also not presented.
The issue arose after Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas sought comprehensive details regarding the sanctioned strength of each of the All India Services as on date, the number of officers currently in position service-wise and cadre-wise, the representation of SC, ST and OBC officers in each service category-wise, and the number of vacancies across services and categories.
In response, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh furnished data in a written reply tabled in the Rajya Sabha on February 12, in which he provided the total number of officers presently serving in the IAS, IPS and IFS, along with the number of direct recruits from SC, ST and OBC categories between 2020 and 2024, but stopped short of disclosing the total category-wise composition of these services or the number of general category recruits during the same period.
According to the reply, the total authorised strength of the three services combined stands at 15,169, of which 2,834 posts remain vacant, amounting to 18.6 per cent. At present, there are 5,577 IAS officers in position, while the IPS has 4,594 officers and the IFS has 2,164 officers.
Service-wise vacancy figures indicate that the IAS has 1,300 unfilled posts against an authorised strength of 6,877, translating into 18.9 per cent vacancies. The IPS has 505 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 5,099, representing 9.9 per cent. The IFS records the highest proportion of vacancies, with 1,029 posts unfilled out of an authorised strength of 3,193, amounting to 32.2 per cent.
With regard to direct recruitment between 2020 and 2024, the IAS saw 135 officers from the SC category, 67 from the ST category and 245 from the OBC category inducted. In the IPS, 141 SC, 71 ST and 231 OBC officers were recruited during the same period. In the IFS, 95 SC, 48 ST and 231 OBC officers entered through direct recruitment.
However, while these figures shed light on recent direct recruitment trends from reserved categories, the absence of data concerning general category recruits during the same four-year period, and the lack of disclosure of the present overall category-wise distribution of officers across the three services, leaves unanswered the broader question of representation within the higher civil services.