Patna, Bihar is set to induct 14 officers from the Bihar Administrative Service (BAS, locally known as Biprase) into the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) next year through promotion, as the state continues to grapple with a chronic shortage of top-tier civil servants.
According to the General Administration Department, the Bihar cadre currently has 359 sanctioned IAS posts but only 308 officers in position, leaving a vacancy of 51 – a deficit that has persisted for years despite repeated requests to the central government for additional direct recruits.
The department notes that roughly 40–50 IAS posts remain unfilled each year, hampering the timely execution of flagship development schemes and forcing senior officers to shoulder multiple portfolios.
Several high-ranking officials are presently managing two or three major departments simultaneously. Examples include:
– Kundan Kumar, who, in addition to serving as Secretary of Industries, holds additional charge as Resident Commissioner (Bihar Bhawan, New Delhi), Investment Commissioner (Mumbai), CEO of Bihar Foundation, Managing Director of BIADA and Managing Director of AIDA.
– Sanjay Kumar Singh, who combines the roles of Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and Officer on Special Duty in the Home Department.
– Lokesh Kumar Singh, Secretary of Health and concurrently Secretary of Tourism.
The practice of assigning multiple charges to senior officers has become routine, underscoring the strain on administrative capacity.
This year, 19 BAS officers were elevated to the IAS. The addition of another 14 in 2026 is expected to provide some relief and accelerate decision-making on development projects, officials said.
The persistent shortfall in Bihar’s IAS cadre reflects a broader challenge faced by several states in securing an adequate share of direct recruits allotted annually by the Union Public Service Commission.
