The Central government's recent memorandum suggesting abolition of government posts that have remained vacant for five or more years appears to be getting curious.
The recent memorandum, dated January 16, 2018, asked the ministries to send a report on the actions taken on the April 17, 2017 memorandum on abolishing such posts.
Apparently, not even half a dozen ministries have tendered details of vacant posts and whether they have abolished them, and among those submitted “very few are consolidated lists.”
Through an Office Memorandum in April 2017, the Central government, had said that posts lying vacant or kept in abeyance for more than two years in any ministry, department and other offices would be considered “deemed abolished.” The OM however exempted “newly created posts.”
In the same memorandum, the government had asked all the ministries and departments to submit a report within three months – by July, 2017 – on the actions taken on abolition of posts that had been vacant for more than five years.
Ministries had also been told that while putting forth any proposal for creation or revival of posts in the ministry or department, they will have to enclose the certificate that all the posts that were vacant had been abolished. “It is possible that without such a certificate, the government is not able to create new posts or revive existing posts,” said a former bureaucrat with experience in the personnel department. According to him, such a memorandum should not be read as a tightening of employment in the government sector.
However, there is no tally yet on exactly how many posts are lying vacant.
