Over 2,800 posts lie vacant in civil services across IAS, IPS, and IFS: Govt

India’s three premier All India Services are facing a worrying shortage of officers, with more than 2,800 posts lying vacant, the government told Parliament on Thursday.

The largest gap is in the Indian Administrative Service, which alone has 1,300 unfilled positions.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that according to the Civil List compiled on January 1, 2025, the IAS has 1,300 vacancies, the Indian Police Service has 505, and the Indian Forest Service has 1,029 posts unfilled.

“The total authorised strength of IAS officers across cadres is 6,877, against which 5,577 officers are in position. In the IPS, 4,594



officers are in place against a sanctioned strength of 5,099, while in the IFoS, 2,164 officers are in position against 3,193 sanctioned posts,” the reply said.

The IAS has a vacancy rate of about 18.9 per cent, with 1,300 posts vacant out of a sanctioned strength of 6,877. The IPS shows around 9.9 per cent vacancies, with 505 posts unfilled against 5,099 sanctioned positions.

The IFoS is the worst affected, with 1,029 vacancies out of 3,193 sanctioned posts, translating to a vacancy rate of approximately 32.2 per cent.

Overall, across the three services, 2,834 posts remain vacant out of a combined sanctioned strength of 15,169, reflecting an overall vacancy rate of nearly 18.7 per cent.