Jammu, March 10 A total of 40,661 positions are currently vacant in government departments across Jammu and Kashmir, Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), M Raju said on Tuesday.
The vacancies include 3,808 gazetted positions, 24,507 non-gazetted positions, and 12,351 multi-tasking staff (MTS) positions.
Raju shared the information at a meeting convened by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo here to review the status of vacancies and the progress of recruitments being undertaken through the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) and the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) across various departments.
Among major departments, Raju said that health and medical education account for a significant share of vacancies, with 2,497 gazetted, 8,088 non-gazetted, and 2,712 MTS positions vacant, while other departments with substantial vacancies include agriculture, power, finance, revenue, forest, public works, and youth services and sports.
Reviewing the recruitment being undertaken by the JKSSB for non-gazetted and MTS posts, JKSSB Chairperson Vikas Kundal said that since 2019, the board has received 46,744 positions, out of which 9,260 were withdrawn, leaving 37,484 positions for recruitment.
The board has already completed selections for 32,956 positions, including 27,449 selections pertaining to this period.
Currently, 10,035 positions remain at various stages of recruitment with JKSSB. These include 2,532 positions yet to be advertised, 4,768 positions at the examination stage, 1,258 at the selection stage, and 1,477 positions under live advertisements awaiting the completion of the recruitment process, Kundal said.
JKPSC Secretary Bashir Ahmad Dar said that currently, 1,745 gazetted positions are under process with the commission. Out of these, against 1,573 positions, the selection schedule has already been drawn, while 172 positions are yet to be scheduled due to certain procedural issues.
He said that the commission has worked out a recruitment timeline for filling these positions.
According to the schedule, 630 selections are targeted for completion by March, 476 during April-May, 158 during June-July, and 309 during August-September, he said.
Department-wise analysis shows that the highest number of positions with JKPSC pertain to health and medical education (872 positions), followed by school education (470 positions), general administration (170 positions) and higher education (129 positions).
The chief secretary stressed the need for expeditious filling of all critical vacancies to strengthen governance and improve public service delivery.
The chief secretary also advised the recruiting agencies to prepare and publish examination calendars simultaneously, enabling aspirants to have clarity regarding the schedule of examinations and adequate time to prepare.