Congress slams Centre over report on 800,000 vacancies in posts

The Congress party has accused the central government of having over 800,000 unfilled positions across 21 ministries and departments, with numbers increasing from around 420,000 in 2015 to 823,556 in 2024. However, it was not possible for the source to independently verify these figures. According to the Ministry of Finance's Department of Expenditure's 2023-24 Annual Report on Pay and Allowances, there were 823,556 vacancies out of a sanctioned strength of 3,923,212 as of March 1, 2024.

Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge linked the rising vacancies to reservation policies, stating that leaving posts vacant is detrimental to social justice. He argued that selling off public sector units (PSUs), converting permanent jobs to contracts, and eliminating jobs with reservations would also end reservation opportunities. Kharge alleged that the BJP, which opposes social justice, is conspiring to end the rights granted by the Constitution. The BJP did not respond to these allegations.

In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Jitender Singh stated that the government has issued instructions to ministries/ departments for timely reporting and filling of vacancies through direct recruitment to recruitment agencies such as UPSC and SSC. He mentioned that several lakh appointment letters have been distributed during National Rozgar Mela events held regularly since October 2022.

When asked about the number of candidates recommended by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) for different ministries over the last four years, Singh stated that the SSC had recommended about 3.61 lakh candidates based on vacancy requisitions submitted by ministries/departments.