Dhirendra Kumar
New Delhi: In a major revelation that may prove to be a setback for the government, it has come to the notice that the Centre is 'sitting' on over 7 lakh vacancies in different Central ministries, departments, etc.
According to a latest report of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, there are total 36,33,935 sanctioned posts in different ministries and departments of the government, which excludes sanctioned posts in military services and out of that 4,12,752 posts are lying vacant in different departments while 2,22,159 vacancies are in Indian Railways, which is the largest employer in the country.
Similarly, in all the three forces, there are 59,622 vacant posts, out of which 9,259 vacancies are of officer level and 50,363 vacancies are of junior level. The highest vacancy is in the Army which is short of 27,864 employees, while 16,255 posts are vacant in the Indian Navy and 15,503 posts in the Air Force.
Similarly, in public sector undertakings, it's been estimated that above 20,000 posts are vacant. As per the report, the Central universities of the country are short of 5,928 teachers as similar numbers of posts are vacant.
Recently Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had faced the ire of a Parliamentary committee over vacant posts of teachers in central universities. Besides, President Ram Nath Kovind had also expressed his concern over the vacancies in universities and asked for immediate recruitment. In May last year, the HRD Ministry in an RTI reply had revealed that 9,749 posts of teaching faculties were vacant in central universities.
According to the data provided by HRD Ministry, there is about 60 lakh approved posts of teachers in primary and secondary schools and out of this, 15 per cent seats are vacant, which translate into 10 lakh posts.
The situation is grim in the primary education sector as there are about 9 lakh vacancies in primary schools and one lakh post of teachers is vacant in secondary schools. It's important to note that Centre is not responsible for filling the vacant posts as it comes under the purview of respective state governments.
Commenting on the issue, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) general secretary Brijesh Upadhyaya said, "It's a hard fact that employment has never been a priority for the governments. It's the result of lack of concern of previous governments that even after 70 years of Independence; the country has no employment policy."
"Since April 1985, appointments in Group C and Group D were almost stopped due to which vacant posts are not being filled. The unemployment has increased manifold and employees working in different departments are overburdened, which is affecting their health and family," Upadhyaya said.