Nearly 10 lakh vacant posts in Central ministries, departments

The strength of employees in various ministries and departments stood at 30,55,876.

Hyderabad: Amid allegations of sluggish governance and of not being able to fill up existing vacancies, Minister of State for PMO Jitendra Singh on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha that there were 9,79,327 vacant posts in different Central ministries and departments as against a sanctioned strength of 40,35,203 till March 1, 2021.

The strength of employees in various ministries and departments stood at 30,55,876. Replying to a question asked by Congress MP Deepak Baij on the number of vacancies in various Central departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Jitendra Singh, replying on behalf of the Prime Minister said during the current fiscal year, about 1.47 lakh new appointees were inducted by various ministries, departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies, banks and other establishments.

He said data was maintained only in respect of backlog vacancies in Central ministries and departments and that the vacancies were advertised and recruitment made based on requirements given by user departments and organisations. Contractual appointments were made by individual ministries and departments strictly based on requirements and data in position with them.

As per the data placed in the House, there are 2,93,943 vacant posts in Railways against the total sanctioned strength of 15,14,007. Currently, the Railways is running with 12,20,064 employees. Similarly, Defence (Civil) has 2,64,707 vacant posts against the sanctioned strength of 6,46,042, while the Department of Home Affairs has 1,43,536 vacant posts against the sanctioned strength of 10,85,728.

The Indian Audit and Accounts has 25,934 vacant posts against sanctioned post of 69,096, while the Department of Posts has 90,050 vacant posts against the sanctioned strength of 2,67,491 and Revenue department has 80,243 vacant posts against the sanctioned strength of 1,79,609.

Interestingly, the Prime Minister’s Office has 129 vacant posts against the sanctioned strength of 446 and the President’s Secretariat has 91 vacant posts against the sanctioned strength of 380.