Hyderabad: Telangana state is all set to join the small list of states having their own administrative services to overcome the shortage of IAS officers.
The state government is learnt to have given in-principle nod for setting up Telangana Administrative Services to offer IAS-cadre posts to senior Group-I officers working in state for more than eight years.
With the creation of 17 new districts from Dasara, the government needs to appoint additional collectors and additional joint collectors for each new district. The collector is an IAS officer, but the government is already facing a shortage of 50 IAS officers.
The government is planning to appoint TAS officers as joint collectors in the beginning and promote them as collectors later based on their seniority. To become collectors, they must clear a test to be conducted by UPSC.
This system is prevalent only in few states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha. Though Kerala also launched its own SAS last year, it is yet to become fully operational.
The state government had appointed a committee headed by senior IAS officer M.G. Gopal last year to make suggestions on creation of TAS.
The government has asked TS Group-I Officers Association to study on the SAS being implemented in other states. “We visited the states with their own administrative services and submitted a report to the government, recommending creation of the Telangana Administr-ative Service to overcome the shortage of IAS officers in August. These states have appointed Group-I officers as collectors, joint collectors and heads of department. Since new districts are being created in TS, the services of senior Group-I officers as joint collectors and HoDs can be utilised in these smaller districts,” said Mr M. Chandrashekar Goud, president, TS Group-I Officers Association.
The committee referred the issue to the Chief Minister who is learnt to have given an in-principle nod. The government is expected to announce administrative service after the creation of new districts.
