Filling up these posts itself would contribute to reducing the raging joblessness that has haunted India in the past several years, but the government does not seem to care.
Under the Narendra Modi-led government’s tenure, where unemployment has reached record high levels, there are no new jobs; government posts that are already sanctioned are also not being filled, according to an investigation of data from various departments of the central and state governments. It was found that at least 30 lakh sanctioned posts under the central government (including those under various bodies and institutions run by the Centre) and an estimated 30 lakh posts under various state governments are lying vacant.
Filling up these posts itself would contribute to
reducing the raging joblessness that has haunted India in the past several
years. But he Modi government, which promised 2 crore jobs every year back in
2014, has in fact, aggravated the unemployment crisis.
As the following table below shows, sanctioned but
vacant posts amount to 9.10 lakh posts in central government ministries and
departments; about 37 thousand posts in central universities,
IITs/IIITs/IIMs/NITs and other central government-run higher education
institutions, central schools (KVs), Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas; 8.53 lakh
posts in primary schools in the states that are mostly funded by the central
government; 1.68 lakh posts in the health sector; 1.76 lakh posts in the
Anganwadi system; 2 lakh posts in the public sector banks; 1.07 lakh posts in
the Indian Army; about 92,000 posts in the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF),
as well as 5.31 lakh posts in the state police departments and judicial courts
across the country, including the Supreme Court, High Courts, and more than
5,000 posts are vacant in lower courts. The number of posts lying vacant in
various state government departments and ministries, if taken together, will be
more than 30 lakh, according to the All India State Government Employees
Federation (AISGEF).
All these numbers have been taken from the central government’s sources and replies to queries in the Parliament: statistics of central government departments and Central Armed Police Forces from Annual Report on Pay and Allowances Report of Pay Research Unit, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance; healthcare data from Rural Health Statistics (RHS) 2019-20, Statistics of Anganwadi Lok Sabha Question No. 3980; details of central educational institutions in higher education from Rajya Sabha Question No. 1172; Indian Army figures from Rajya Sabha Question No. 2903; Justice Department figures from Lok Sabha Question No. 29; police vacancy numbers from the Police Research and Development Bureau; the figures of teachers in primary schools were taken from the Rajya Sabha Question No. 1166; the data of the central schools is acquired through Right to Information (RTI) application and the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas from the Rajya Sabha Question No. 2579.
The seriousness of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led
government at the Centre and the state governments about employment can be
gauged from the fact that the number of vacancies has been continuously
increasing year after year with no concrete step being taken to fill them.
In the table below, we can see that in the year
2014-15, only 4.21 lakh posts were vacant in various central ministries and
departments, which was 11.5% of the total sanctioned posts in these departments.
The number of these vacant posts has increased to 9.10 lakh in 2018-19, which
is 22.76% of the total sanctioned posts, that is, the number of vacancies has
doubled between 2014-15 and 2018-19.
Source: Annual Report on Salary and Allowances, Pay Research
Unit (PAY RESEARCH UNIT), Department of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance
CH Venkatachalam, General Secretary of All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), said that more than two lakh posts of class-4, class-3 and the officer cadre are vacant in banks, which the managements do not want to fill. By appointing employees on low wages through contract and outsourced means, the institutions are saving money although these temporary employees are made to work just like permanent employees. “In fact, due to the reduced strength, work load on each employee has gone up tremendously,” Venkatachalam said, noting that the employees were not able to finish their work on time, which has given rise to frustration, stress and mental pressure among them.
The bank business has increased a lot compared to
earlier times, due to which there has been a significant increase in the work
of the employees, including servicing of many government schemes that are
implemented through banks only. In such a situation, it is better to have
regular and permanent employees and therefore, it is necessary that the
government and banks soon fulfill the more than two lakh vacancies, which are
lying unfulfilled, so that the employees can work with efficiency, he said.
RN Parashar, General Secretary of the Confederation of
Central Government Employees and Workers, said that in all the central
government departments, various PSUs, banks, autonomous bodies such as IITs,
IIMs, ISRO, and in many scientific research institutions, nearly 24 lakh posts
were lying vacant; this means that 30-35% of all posts are vacant in various
department and in some departments, the figure goes up to 40-50%.
Meanwhile, the Centre is in a hurry to sell national
assets under the public sector. Earlier, the government's share in the public
sector used to be in between 51% to 76% and in addition to this, it used to get
a share in the profits. But when the government decides to sell its shares,
they sell it at lump sum rates, which gives the government quick cash but the
regular income is eroded, Parashar said.
He further stressed that the Modi government at the
Centre had said “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance,” which people thought
would perhaps translate to a smaller cabinet that would work hard. However, now
people are finding it to be a “joke” because the definition of the slogan
according to Modi ji is that “government departments and
institutions should be less in number, employees should be less and more and
more work should be taken from them and the rest of it should be outsourced
like bonded labor, which does not need any job security nor any social
security,” Parashar said. He further added that what former PM Atal Bihari
Vajpayee had started, Modi was bent on concluding that job by selling Public
Sector Undertakings (PSUs), increasing unemployment and making the country
dependent on private players.
VACANCIES IN STATES
The central government claims it has no data on number
of vacancies in the states. According to state budget documents, in Uttar
Pradesh alone 13 lakh posts have been
sanctioned, out of which more than 4 lakh are vacant.
Discussing government posts in the states, General
Secretary of All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF), Subhash
Lamba said that according to their estimates based on growth in population and
the increase in corresponding work, more than 30 lakh posts are lying vacant
across all states. “Due to such a large number of posts being vacant, various
state governments are using contractual labour and such employees cannot
provide satisfactory services because they are paid very low salaries and there
is no job security,” he said.
In the last few years, a large number of employees
have retired, due to which there has been a significant increase in the number
of vacant posts because permanent recruitment has not been done against these
vacancies. The vacant posts are those that were sanctioned keeping in mind the
needs long ago; at present, when there is a lot of increase in the population,
there is a need to increase the number of sanctioned posts as well. Lamba says
that in view of the current population and work, about 15 to 20 lakh new posts
should be created in the states.
WHY PERMANENT APPOINTMENTS ARE IMPORTANT
The corona pandemic has proved that only the
government machinery can firmly fight the battle during any crisis. Essential
services like sanitation, healthcare, police, and banks, etc. were continuously
available to the people mainly because of government employees. The private
sector was not visible anywhere and whatever was working, was devoted to
minting money. Due to the lack of employees and facilities in the government
system, common people could see some hope.
The most shocking number of vacancies from key sectors
such as education and health are due to low funding and fund cuts leading to
the disappearance of lakhs of teachers from schools and colleges, and even from
reputed institutions like IIMs and IITs. This underlying weakness in education
system is putting the future of India at great risk and darkness.
An equally careless approach is visible in the
National Health Mission program, which is the main program providing health
services to the Indian people. The Rural Health Survey states that 1.68 lakh
posts are vacant for key health workers including specialists, general
practitioners, nurses, technicians and other paramedical staff. Apart from
this, there are 1.76 lakh vacant posts of Anganwadi workers and helpers, who
provide nutrition and child care services, are not appointed. NFHS-5 data show that
there has been an increase in the number of stunted (short height for age),
weak (low weight for height) and malnourished (low weight for age) children in
the last five years. The lack of appointments in judiciary and courts is
reflected in 4.28 crore court cases that
are pending in the whole court system.
WHAT ECONOMISTS SAY
Development Economist Deepa Sinha says given the condition
of the country, it would be a great step forward to fill up the vacant posts
right now because there is a demand deficit, people do not have jobs, and these
posts which are lying vacant, belong to employees of every level. And if these
people get money in their hands, then spending will increase. Since the things
these people buy are not very expensive or imported things but local things,
which will in turn increase employment and boost the economy. .
Sinha further elaborated that right now the government
is talking about giving relief package in the Covid-19 period, but only the
corporates will benefit the most from it. However, if the economy is to be
brought back on track, then filling the vacant posts without delay is the right
way, she added.
Preeti Shekhar, National Vice President of the
Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), said that when such a large number
of people are unemployed, then it is unfortunate to have so many posts lying
vacant. Describing unemployment as an epidemic, she said all sections of the
society are affected due to this situation. According to her, ever since
1990-91, when the new economic policy was introduced in the country, the
governments have started to believe that keeping people on regular jobs is not
required. “These vacant positions are part of the same neoliberal policies,”
she said.
On the other hand, Anupam, the national coordinator of
Yuva Halla Bol, said that the huge number of vacant posts was not just an
administrative glitch or flaw, but it was the unofficial policy of the
government that the posts should not be filled while a large youth population
is facing unemployment. If there was a sensitive government, which would
understand the problem of the youth, it would not only recruit the sanctioned
posts on a war footing but also would have created new posts as per the need,
he said.
Source: News Click
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