Agartala: Tripura government has imposed a set of restrictions on the creation of new government jobs and advised abolition of vacant posts, in case new posts are created.
A memorandum issued by the Finance Department on Monday stated that Tripura already has the highest level of government employment in the country, in proportion to its population.
Tripura has roughly 200,000 government employees, including 60,000 pensioners. The estimated population of the state is 4,000,000.
"The need for this provision arises due to the fact that salaries and wages constitute the largest item of expenditure and it is absolutely necessary to exercise financial prudence and discipline while committing expenditure under these heads.
"Hence, whenever a department submits a proposal for post creation, it should be accompanied by a proposal for surrender/abolition of posts with equivalent financial implications, the memorandum signed by Chief Secretary L K Gupta, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said.
Restrictions were imposed on filling up of vacant posts saying all government departments must ensure that no process of filling up vacant posts is initiated without prior concurrence of the Finance Department and violation of the newly laid out plans would invite disciplinary action against concerned officers, it said.
"Some departments have a wrong notion that the Finance Department has unlimited funds for salaries and wages and that it is their entitlement to fill up all the vacant posts and create new ones. This is not the case," the memo said.
The Department of School Education has violated these instructions and was asked to explain their action.
Earlier this year, the department announced recruitment in over 14,000 teaching positions to fill up vacancies, that were to be created by the retirement of 10,323 school teachers, who were terminated by the Supreme Court in 2017.
As per the new rules, the Finance Department would monitor expenditure on salary and wages by each department on a monthly basis and impose cuts from non-salary budget for departments which exceed their approved funds.