The Central Government has not been able to get a large number of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to declare their assets, according to numbers from the Department of Personnel & Training.
Despite a clear directive to the estimated 5,200 IAS officials — the back-bone of Central government bureaucracy — to declare assets by June 2011, only 4128 IAS officers have so far declared their assets.
“The Department of Personnel and Training has asked all cadre authorities to call for explanation of such officers who have not submitted their returns so far,” the Department said in a statement.
IAS officers are in charge of the most important central government positions, such as district magistrates, project in-charges, secretaries in central government ministries etc..
Once known as the Steel Frame of the Indian government which ensured that the writ of the Centre ran across the length and breadth of the country, the steel has lost much of its sheen in the eyes of the people due to perceived high levels of corruption.
A large part of central government funds are channelized through IAS officers for development work and the service has not been able to remain immune to the increasing levels of corruption, in the eyes of the people.