Existing vacancies of IAS officers in different states is weakening India’s administrative backbone. As of January 2024, nearly 1,300 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) positions remain vacant out of an authorised strength of 6,877. This is a 19% shortfall. What is more worrying is that the vacancies persisted for over a decade. Vacancies mostly exist in mid-sized posts and as a result, many states are effectively losing an entire mid-sized  administrative capacity.