17% posts in Mantralaya are lying vacant, shows RTI query

If your administrative work is stuck in any of the government departments in the state secretariat, you may blame the delay on the shortage of staff here.

If your administrative work is stuck in any of the government departments in the state secretariat, you may blame the delay on the shortage of staff here.

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Across 28 departments in the Mantralaya, there is a shortage of about 16.75% in the sanctioned manpower. This was revealed through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by Mohammad Afzal, RTI activist.

The staff crunch is more prevalent among class II and class III officials --comprising section officers, clerks, stenographers, and typists - at 22%. Among class IV employees, the shortage of manpower stands at 16%
On the contrary, in class I posts, which include senior officials, who are largely signatory authorities and policy planners, vacancy stands at 7 %.

The RTI application, filed in General Administrative Department (GAD) of Mantralaya, also revealed that of 109 posts sanctioned for class III steno typists, 71 (65 per cent) are vacant, while 38 are filled. Similarly, of the 266 class II lower grade steno posts only, 164 are filled and 102 are vacant.

“Most of the departments in the Mantralaya do a lot of paper work, therefore there is a great need for clerks, typists, peons and stenos. The class I officials are signatory authorities, who just approve of the final file, but the proposals have to reach them via a thorough process, for which basic staff is required,” said Afzal. “A lot of proposals are stuck mid-way, as there is a lack of staff to attend to them at the preliminary and middle stages,” he added.

Nandkumar Jantare, secretary, General Administrative Department, Mantralaya said, “We are 15-20% short-staffed due to some awaiting promotions and a stay on recruitment. Now, once the stay is lifted things will improve. Besides, now with computerisation the number of staff required for doing clerical work has reduced and therefore the shortage need not affect the productivity.”