Jammu and Kashmir: Over 40,000 government job vacancies; highest in health department

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir has over 40,000 vacancies in various government departments, with the highest in the Health and Medical Education department, the assembly was informed on Monday. In reply to questions from MLAs Sajad Lone and Irfan Hafeez Lone about recruitment and vacancies, the government said there were 40,672 vacancies across various government departments.

A total of 3,318 gazetted posts, 24,427 non-gazetted posts, and 12,927 multi-tasking staff (MTS) posts were lying vacant, the government said. The highest number of vacancies was in the Health and Medical Education department with 2,125 gazetted posts, 8,064 non-gazetted posts and 2608 MTS posts lying vacant in the crucial department.

The Agriculture Production Department has 4,939 posts vacant, Finance has 1,829, and School Education 1,364 vacant posts, the government said. The government said 17,922 posts have been referred to J-K Service Selection Board and 2,150 posts to the Public Service Commission in the last two years.

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Government plans faster filling of vacant posts

The government said it has taken a series of measures to ensure that vacant posts are filled in a time-bound manner. "These include timely identification and referral of vacancies to the recruiting agencies, adherence to the prescribed statutory framework, advance planning of recruitment cycles, and close monitoring of recruitment timelines at various stages," it said.

Efforts have been made to streamline procedures, strengthen coordination with the recruiting agencies and leverage technology to expedite the recruitment process, while ensuring transparency, fairness, and merit, it asserted. The government has already issued directions to all the departments for timely referring of vacancies, falling under direct quota, to the recruiting agencies, it added.