Himachal Pradesh Moves to Cut IAS Cadre Strength From 153 to 130

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said this week the state government has decided to seek a reduction in its sanctioned IAS cadre strength from 153 to 130 officers, part of a wider plan that also proposes cutting the Indian Forest Service cadre from 118 to 83 posts.

Cadre strength for the All India Services is fixed by the central Department of Personnel and Training in consultation with state governments, and any reduction requires a formal state proposal followed by central approval, a process that can take months to work through once a state government submits its request. Himachal's letter to DoPT seeking the IAS and IFS cuts was sent this week, following a cadre review the state had earlier flagged in May, when it first proposed a more modest reduction from 153 to 147 IAS posts before revising the figure downward.

Sukhu, speaking to reporters in Shimla, said the state currently has more administrative officers than it needs relative to its population of roughly 70 lakh, and that several officers hold charge of departments too small to make full use of their experience. He said his personal preference would be to bring the IAS count down closer to 110, but that the government settled on 130 after officers within the cadre pushed back against a steeper cut during internal consultations held over the preceding weeks.

The Chief Minister estimated the restructuring could save the state Rs 100 crore to 150 crore annually in salary and establishment costs, a figure some officials have separately put closer to Rs 200 crore, and linked the exercise to Himachal's broader fiscal strain following the Centre's discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant, an annual transfer the hill state had received since 1952 under successive Finance Commission awards and which Sukhu said had cost the state between Rs 8,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore in losses since it ended.

The move has drawn criticism from retired officers and the political opposition. Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur questioned the fiscal logic of cutting posts while the government continues to extend tenures for favoured officials, and retired IAS officer Deepak Shanan called the savings estimate unrealistic, arguing that trimming roughly two dozen posts could not plausibly account for the sums the government has cited, pointing out that several serving officers already hold charge of multiple departments simultaneously.

The government has separately decided against inducting new IAS and IPS officers into the Himachal cadre for the time being, and a reduction in the IPS cadre, currently sanctioned at 96 posts, is also under consideration, though the state has not yet finalised a specific number for that cut. Officials noted that 25 IAS, 24 IPS and 17 IFS officers from the Himachal cadre are presently serving on central deputation, a figure the state government has cited as evidence that its sanctioned strength exceeds what is needed for postings within the state itself.

The proposal now awaits formal consideration by DoPT, which will need to weigh Himachal's request against its own cadre review norms before any change takes effect.