New Delhi: There is a shortage of nearly 1,500 IAS officers in the country, the government said on Wednesday.

The number of officers in position as on January 1, 2017, is 5,004 against the authorised strength of 6,500, with the vacancy coming to 1,496, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Giving state-wise details, the minister said Uttar Pradesh had 515 officers against the total authorised strength of 621.

Bihar has 243 IAS officers, Bengal 277, Madhya Pradesh 341 and Kerala 150 against the total authorised strengths of 342, 359, 439 and 231, respectively.

Tamil Nadu has 289 officers, Rajasthan 243, Jharkhand 144 and Haryana 155 against the strength of 376, 313, 215 and 205, respectively, Singh said.

Gujarat has 241 IAS officers (against the strength of 297) and Himachal Pradesh has 115 bureaucrats although there is provision for 147.

Jammu and Kashmir has 91 IAS officers against the strength of 137, Nagaland has 67 (authorised strength is 94) and Sikkim 37 officers against 48 sanctioned posts.

Telangana has 130 IAS officers against the strength of 208, Punjab has 182 officers (strength is 221) and Chhattisgarh has 154 bureaucrats against 193 sanctioned posts, the minister said.

The government has increased the annual intake of directly recruited IAS officers to 180 in the past six years, Singh said.

The details of other states have also been given in the reply.

"Further, in promotion quota prompt action has been taken for holding selection committee meetings for appointment by promotion/selection of state-service officers in the Indian Administrative Service," Singh said. PTI