Over 32,000 Govt posts vacant in J&K: CM Omar Abdullah

‘Health Dept tops list’

Jammu, Mar 4 : More than 32,000 posts are lying vacant across 37 departments of the Jammu and Kashmir government, with the Health and Medical Education Department accounting for the highest number of vacancies at 7,851, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah informed the Assembly on Tuesday.

CM Omar as per news agency KINS said that since the formation of the government on October 16 last year, the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) and Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) have been assigned the task of filling 3,727 vacancies.

CM, who also oversees the General Administration Department, provided this information in response to a query by Peoples Conference MLA Sajad Gani Lone.

As of January 31, a total of 32,474 posts remain unfilled, including 2,503 gazetted, 19,214 non-gazetted, and 10,757 multi-tasking staff (MTS) positions. Of these, 738 gazetted, 1,754 non-gazetted, and 1,235 MTS posts have been referred to JKSSB and JKPSC.

Among major departments with vacancies, Health and Medical Education: 7,851, Public Works (Roads & Buildings): 3,759, Animal Husbandry: 2,589, Industries & Commerce: 2,517, Housing & Urban Development: 2,420, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare: 1,340, Power Department: 1,305, Food & Supplies: 1,131, Finance: 1,009, Revenue: 1,004, Jal Shakti: 856, School Education: 770.

The Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction is the only one without any vacancies.

Additionally, Abdullah revealed that since October 16, JKPSC has collected over 8.44 crore and JKSSB over 5.72 crore in application fees from job aspirants. However, there is currently no proposal to make job application forms free for candidates, he added.(KINS)