BENGALURU: With the government putting the brakes on recruitment in the wake of the pandemic, several departments, including those which directly deal with the people, are functioning with half the sanctioned strength. As a result, there have been delays in implementing the various government schemes. However, with the economic situation slowly improving now, the government is likely to restart the recruitment process.
Ever since Covid-19 hit, most of the departments, except Health and a few other departments which provide essential services, stopped the recruitment process and managed with outsourced employees.
Of the five lakh employees who work in the 72 departments of the State Government agriculture, home, urban development, health, tourism, education, food and civil supplies, power, water resources, excise, medical education, etc — 1.5 lakh are contractual staffers.
“As of today, there are 2.4 lakh vacant posts in Karnataka out of the 7.7 lakh sanctioned posts,’’ Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association president C S Shadakshari told The New Indian Express.
Departments like Agriculture, Revenue, Animal Husbandry and a few others are facing an acute shortage of staff, hampering day-to-day work. Sources in the Agriculture Department said more than 50 per cent of posts are vacant.
“Of the 2,099 posts of assistant agriculture officer, only 400 are filled. Each officer handles two to three gram panchayats. They are the grassroots level officers who have to ensure that government schemes reach the beneficiaries (farmers). But, with staff shortage, farmers are not able to get the benefit on time,’’ the sources said.
Similarly, in the Revenue Department there is a shortage of land surveyors. During the just-concluded legislature session, Revenue Minister R Ashoka had stated that of the 4,020 sanctioned posts of land surveyors, 604 are vacant. He admitted that because of this, farmers’ land survey work has been delayed. He, however, said they are taking steps to recruit surveyors soon. In his reply, the minister had said that recruitment in 2020-2021 was frozen due to the financial crisis caused by Covid-19. There are vacancies in other cadres too, which will be filled in a phased manner, he said.
The Public Works Department is top-heavy with an excess of staff in the higher cadres — Assistant Executive Engineer to Superintending Engineer. On the other hand, there is a shortage of Junior and Assistant Engineers, which are being filled through the KPSC.
According to sources, the PWD has 3,130 sanctioned posts of engineers starting from Junior Engineer to Superintending Engineer. Earlier, the PWD and Irrigation departments were clubbed, and after bifurcation, a large number of engineers opted to stay with the Public Works Department.
Shadakshari pointed out that due to the staff shortage, employees are forced to take up additional work. Even revenue-generating departments like the sub-registrar’s offices, RTOs and others have less staff. This also means generation of revenue is slowed down. “Our staff are working under pressure. We were told that due to the pandemic, the government froze recruitments. But it is high time recruitments are made, or else we will be left with no option but to take to the streets,’’ he warned.