THERE is a shortage of 1,496 IAS officers in the country, according to data available as on January 1, 2017, the government told Lok Sabha on Wednesday, adding that it had taken a number of steps to minimise the shortfall — by increasing the annual intake of direct recruit of IAS to 180 during the last six years and also regularly holding selection panel meetings for the timely promotion of the officers from the state services. According to data shared by the government, there are 5,004 IAS officers against the…