30% CSS positions vacant as promotions put on hold for last six years

As the Union government has not given a promotion to the employees of the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) in the last six years, about 30% of middle to senior positions in various Central government departments remain vacant.

The promotions have been stalled due to ongoing court cases on the reservation in promotion. The Supreme Court had reserved its decision on whether or not to allow reservation in promotion to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in government positions in October 2021.

According to the CSS Forum, a group of officers, there are 6,210 section officers, Under Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries, Directors, and Joint Secretaries, with 1,839 posts empty. A contempt plea was filed against the DoPT's promotions, and the case was connected with the lawsuit involving the reservation of promotions for SC/STs.

According to Manmohan Verma, General Secretary of the CSS Forum, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued directions to all departments and ministries in June 2018 to carry out promotions in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision in Jarnail Singh Vs Union of India and Others.

"As a result, all Departments are issuing regular promotion orders to all Central government employees," Mr Verma said, "but only the DoPT, which is the CSS officers' cadre regulating authority, has not issued regular promotion orders for more than six years on the pretext of outstanding court cases."

In 2018, a five-judge bench ruling in the Jarnail Singh case mandated "rapid promotion with consequential seniority" for SC/ST government employees. The Supreme Court stated in 2018 that it was up to the state governments to figure out how to carry out the court's June 2018 decision.

Since 2020, the DoPT has elevated 2,770 officials on an ad hoc basis to help the country get through the crisis. "There are around 1,800 openings that need to be filled immediately through promotions. More than 60% of the 4,400 officers are working on ad hoc promotions, according to a CSS official.

The vacancies come on top of a severe shortage of officers in the All India Services (AIS) – IAS, IPS, and IFoS. To address the issue, which the DoPT claims is caused by states failing to sponsor enough officers for Central deputation, the department has suggested revisions that would give it additional authority to summon AIS officers to work for the Union government.