BENGALURU: As the second wave of Covid is raging across the state and there is a sense of gloom all around, here is some good news. The State Government, which had frozen recruitments for the past one year because of Covid-triggered restrictions, is now reconsidering its decision. Starting from Thursday (April 1), the new financial year, the Finance Department has asked various departments to submit their proposals for fresh hiring. However, recruitments have to be done only after the Finance Department gives its approval. The circular, issued by Finance Department Secretary Ekrup Kaur, too, stresses this point. She has stated that a freeze had to be enforced in July 2020 to mobilse resources to tackle Covid-19 pandemic.
The State has 72 departments, including agriculture, home, urban development, health, tourism, education, food and civil supply, power, water resources, excise and medical education. Over 5.3 lakh regular employees and 1.5 lakh contract staffers work in these departments. Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association president C S Shadakshari told The New Indian Express that of the 7.7 lakh sanctioned posts, 5.4 lakh staffers are working, leaving a vacancy of 2.6 lakh posts in various departments. The vacancies are high in some departments, like Education, Revenue, Urban Development and others. “With no recruitment and lesser staff, the existing employees are under pressure to do more work,’’ he said.
Though the government says technology is replacing human resource, the creation of new taluks, districts and departments require additional staff, he pointed out.Official sources from the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) said that last year, the State Government froze all recruitments, except a few essential ones. “All these years, especially after the budget or at the start of the new financial year, many departments hired more people than required. This drained the resources and the Finance Department would raise objections. This is the reason the new circular, which has been issued in advance, states that the Finance Department should be kept in the loop before recruitments,” they added.