Forty-seven Bihar Administrative Service (BAS) officers are likely to be promoted as Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and bring relief to the overburdened bureaucrats serving the state.

Sources said the general administration department (GAD) has already finalised the list of officials and it will be sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for approval by April end.

The finalised list contains the names of 67 such officers.

BAS officers from the 29th batch to 31st batch would be promoted against the vacancies of 2007.

The department of personnel and training, which falls under the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions, will issue a notification after the UPSC agrees to the state government's proposal for promoting BAS officers to IAS, a senior official said on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

In January last year, 38 BAS officers were promoted to the rank of IAS under the state quota. The state government later posted these 2006-batch promoted officers as joint secretaries in different departments.

"This year the number has been increased considering the number of vacant seats to be filled up," the officer, whose name also figured on the list, told The Telegraph.

Bihar has a sanctioned strength of 342 IAS officers and the lack of sufficient number of officers has forced the state government to assign the charge of more than one department to several IAS officers. For example, home department principal secretary Amir Subhani is holding addition charge as secretary, minority welfare department, and principal secretary, prohibition, excise and registration department.

Similarly, principal secretary of the general administration department, D.S. Gangwar, has been given additional charge as principal secretary of public grievances, principal secretary of cabinet vigilance department, officer on special duty in the office of resident commission, Delhi and as mission director of Bihar Administrative Reforms Society.

A senior IAS officer said that there were more vacancies at the principal secretary level. Out of 27 officers in the rank of principal secretary, 16 were holding additional charge of different departments. Of them, two officers have been put under suspension.

Similarly, only 19 officers were serving against the 51 sanctioned secretary-level posts. Again, nine of those 19 officers were holding additional charge of different departments.

Out of the total, sanctioned strength of 342 IAS officers, the state can post 238 directly recruited IAS officers and the remaining 104 posts have to be filled up through promotions. But only 251 IAS officers are serving at present.

Of them, 42 IAS officers have been given central assignments and five others are on inter-state deputation.

Of the 215 serving IAS officers, 20 officers are from other state cadres but having their roots in Bihar.

"After the promotions, the total strength of serving IAS officers in the state will rise to 246, which is still short of the sanctioned posts," the officer pointed out.

He claimed that the department has expedited the process of making proposals for the promotion of state service officers in the IAS for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.