Delhi pollution body to hire trainees to fill up vacant posts

Out of the 344 posts, only 111 were occupied while 233 remained unoccupied. The body did not comment on how high number of vacancies impact its operations.

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is looking to fill nearly 100 vacant posts by hiring both trainees and permanent environmental engineers, according to officials aware of the matter. The exercise will likely be completed by the end of January 2024, when around 60 trainees will be hired for clerical roles temporarily. Meanwhile, 38 environmental engineers will be hired through the Engineering Services Examination (ESE), the officials said.

Commuters out on a smoggy morning amid rising air pollution level at Anand Vihar, in New Delhi. (HT)

HT reported on November 23, citing the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), that nearly 68% of the sanctioned posts in DPCC were lying vacant. Out of the 344 posts, only 111 were occupied while 233 remained unoccupied. The body did not comment on how the high number of vacancies impacted its operations.

A DPCC official requesting anonymity said the exercise should address some of the crunch at the pollution body. “An exam is being conducted on December 17 for this,” said the official.

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The second batch of 38 people will be hired in January for environmental engineering posts, the official added. “These will be permanent positions and will be group A posts. Advertisements have been published,” he said.

DPCC acts as the regulatory body for Delhi for the implementation of environmental and pollution control laws enacted by the Parliament.

DPCC operates 24 of Delhi’s 40 ambient air quality monitoring stations, 31 noise pollution monitors, and carries out water quality tests of Delhi’s sewage treatment plants, among other things. It also monitors and ensures industries in Delhi meet pollution norms, and acts as the nodal agency to enforce several Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) measures.

Varun Gulati, an environmental activist, who filed an RTI questioning the vacancies in DPCC in January this year, said the body has failed to take action for years. “My RTI showed that a total of 229 posts were still vacant. Between January and December, nothing has changed and even now, action is only being taken because the CPCB has shared this data with the NGT,” Gulati said.