BENGALURU: The famous inscription on Vidhana Soudha reads ‘Government Work is God’s Work’. But not many are recruited to take up this divine duty in Karnataka. In 2023, just before the Assembly polls, the Congress released its manifesto and one of the poll promises was that the party would fill all the approved vacancies in all government departments within one year.
It’s been over 2.5 years, and the promise remains on paper. In the past too, other governments could not fill the vacancies with the result that over 2.5 lakh posts are lying vacant in various departments. There are 5.2 lakh employees in 72 departments, boards and corporations of the government. Of the 2.5 lakh vacant posts, some are managed by employees appointed on contract basis.
At present, the state government has implemented the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission since August 2024. Under this structure, minimum salary is Rs 27,000 and maximum is Rs 2.41 lakh.
While recruitment has taken a back seat for various reasons, students and graduates in Dharwad are staging protests, demanding the state government to fill the vacancies. The protest turned ugly recently where over 40 people were detained by the police. They had staged protests many times earlier. In October this year, they held a state-wide convention of job aspirants.
Financial Implications
One of the reasons for not recruiting is lack of funds. Sources in the government told TNIE that on an average, 200 to 250 proposals are received every year from various departments. Each proposal has a request to fill several vacant posts. “Most of the proposals are from the health, education, police and medical departments. We have to keep in mind the financial implications. In most cases, we give approval only for a few posts in departments where staff shortage is severe,’’ the sources said.
But do we really need these many employees for better functionality? A senior retired officer on condition of anonymity, said, “No. Generally revenue expenditure is much larger than capital expenditure (all expenditure that results in asset creation) and the primary reasons are huge wage bills which come to around Rs 1.5lakh crore, including salaries, pensions, admin expenses like office rentals, vehicles, maintenance, power and water bills.
The state budget size is around Rs 4lakh crore. We have 7crore people and one-third of the budget allocation is spent on 6 to 8 lakh people who work in government offices. The government cannot be that expensive. We are in a tech-driven era and can replace people with technology. More people interference also leads to more corruption,’’ officials said.
“The government’s aim should not be employee-oriented, but people service-oriented, which can be done using technology. It’s the taxpayers’ money, after all,’’ he said.
Sources from the Finance department said there are a large number of state and central sponsored schemes. “Every new government comes with a set of new schemes, without scrapping the old ones. This leads to more and more schemes and more paperwork which falls on the employees. “In fact, this burden can be reduced by using technology. But vested interests in the government job sector are more. At a lower level, private firms do not pay as much as the government does,’’ sources said.
Administrative and legal hurdles
It’s not just the finance. In 2024, the government decided and set up a one-man panel headed by retired judge HN Nagmohan Das to recommend internal reservation within the 17 per cent meant for Schedule Castes. It also decided against any fresh recruitment till the Commission submitted its report. After the Commission submitted its report, the government began to fill vacancies in various government departments, and promotions which were stalled awaiting the decision on internal quota.
The Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) is responsible for recruiting candidates for various state government departments. But for various reasons, the process of recruitment is delayed. Karnataka Administrative Reforms Commission-II Chairman and former Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar had recommended reforms in the KPSC. “The KPSC should conduct on-time exams like UPSC, that will help in hastening the recruitment process,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court issued an order recently which said no further notifications for recruitment or appointments on the basis of increased reservation should be issued till the petitions are disposed of. This again came with conditions. Recruitments that have already begun may be continued, but appointments should be subject to the final outcome of the present petitions, the HC order stated.
Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) is a nodal agency that conducts written exams for various government departments for recruitment. H Prasanna, Executive Director, said that last October, a few departments had approached the KEA to conduct exams. But after the government decided to implement internal reservation, these exams were stalled.
“A few weeks ago, when DPAR gave clearance, 10 government departments, including BDA, BWSSB, Department of Technical Education, RGUHS and Department of Agricultural Marketing, approached the KEA to fill up close to 1,000 posts. “We had issued notification in the month of October and November (till the court order), we are going ahead with it,’’ he said.
Though the Congress government has not implemented its promise to fill vacancies in the government, it has implemented Yuva Nidhi, one of the guarantee schemes that offers financial assistance to educated unemployed youth. The eligible beneficiaries receive monthly payments until they secure employment, or for a maximum of two years. While it lays stress on providing financial assistance and skilled training to unemployed youth, the government could have also given these youths jobs in the government sector.
What's the impact?
According to Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association president CS Shadakshari, shortage of staff obviously places pressure on the employees. “If they manage with outsourced staff and guest lecturers, there is no accountability and commitment. This will make an impact on day-to-day administration,’’ he said. Also, if the government delays filling up posts, many youths will be deprived of joining government service as there is an age bar.