With nearly 40 per cent of posts in various departments and education institutions lying vacant, the district continues to be the least preferred destination for the government servants in the state.
The lack of sufficient number of government servants has also badly affected the implementation of the recommendations made by the Prabhakaran Commission for the overall development of the district.
Officials posted in various government departments of the district are reluctant to work here. The reasons cited are poor accommodation facilities, inconveniences in travelling and low allowances. They try for transfers or remain on medical leave until they get a posting in a comfortable location.
According to Kasargod Additional District Magistrate H Dineshan, around 40 per cent of the posts are lying vacant in various departments. “Health, Public Works and Agricultural Departments have been severely hit because of this,” he said. District Medical Officer Dr P Gopinathan said the reluctance of the newly appointed doctors, especially from the southern districts of the state, has affected the functioning of the health department. According to him, 14 posts of doctors out of the total 44, are lying vacant in the district. The situation of agriculture department is no different. Padannakkad Agricultural College, the only such institution in the district, has been severely hit by staff shortage.
PWD (Roads Division) executive engineer K P Basheer pointed fingers at the poor accommodation facilities available for the government officials in the district. “There are only two government employees’ quarters in the district, one at Udayagiri in Vidyanagara and the second one at Chemmattam Vayal in Kanhangad. For more than one thousand employees in the civil station there are only less than 50 family quarters available, which were inaugurated 26 years back. Some of them are in a dilapidated condition,” he said.
NGO Union Kasargod district general secretary M Chandrashekharan said that the available facilities can only accommodate less than ten per cent of the total government employees in the district. “The officials have to get the facilities on their own risk paying huge amounts. They often get inadequate House Rent Allowance (HRA). The district collectorate is housed at Chenkala Panchayat and the officers are paid the HRA for Panchayat areas,” he said.
Blaming poor transportation facilities, he said that the KSRTC services from civil station to the railway station is often disrupted. This results in government servants leaving the offices before the end of office hours.
However P Karunakaran, MP from Kasargod said the the issue is being blown out of proportion. “The backwardness of the district is due to the irresponsible approach of the government officials. The government should consider the introduction of a bond system so as to ensure that officials who are appointed in the district may undergo a minimum service of five years in the district,” he said.