The Central government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) places the highest priority on ensuring the well-being of Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers and has allocated additional resources wherever necessary.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh provided this information in a written reply to a query by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mohammed Nadimul Haque.
Haque sought details about the number of IFS officers currently employed, the number of territorial and functional divisions in the MEA, and whether steps had been taken to improve financial and infrastructural support for IFS officers posted in India.
“As of February 1, 2025, the sanctioned strength of IFS ‘A’ officers in the Ministry is 1,177. Additionally, the General Cadre of IFS ‘B’ is 2,379, the Stenographers’ Cadre is 1,209, the Other Cadres is 1,150, and the Local Cadre is 3,119,” Kirti Vardhan Singh stated.
He further added that the MEA currently operates 57 territorial and functional divisions.
“The Ministry accords the highest priority to ensure the well-being of its human resources. Based on feedback from officers posted in India, additional resources and amenities, wherever warranted, have been made available to meet the functional requirements of officers. The availability of housing has improved in recent years, and the Ministry is also pursuing ongoing projects to ensure adequate availability of housing,” Singh informed the Rajya Sabha.
No Aircraft Hired for Immigrant Repatriation Since 2020
In another response, Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita stated that the MEA has not hired any Indian Air Force (IAF), chartered, or commercial civilian aircraft for repatriation of Indian immigrants being deported from any country since 2020.
He was responding to a query by TMC MP Saket Gokhale, who asked for details of instances where the MEA had used IAF or chartered/commercial aircraft for repatriating deported Indian immigrants between 2020 and the present.
“The Ministry of External Affairs has not hired any Indian Air Force or Chartered/Commercial Civilian aircraft for the purposes of repatriation of Indian immigrants being deported from any country since 2020. However, in a few exceptional cases, Indian immigrants facing deportation were assisted in returning home on a means-tested basis through the purchase of tickets on commercial flights,” Margherita stated.