SHILLONG, Sep 23: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) has slammed the state government for not filling up several vacancies in various departments over the last few years and for a delayed recruitment process.
Quoting an RTI activist on Friday, the HYC said 3,367 sanctioned posts in various government departments are lying vacant in the state.
During the just-concluded Assembly session, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma refused to provide a specific number and put the number of vacant posts at about 3,000, the council.
These vacancies are for sanctioned posts and “if we take the average annual salary of an employee to be about Rs 4.40 lakh, the total amount for 3,367 employees lying with the government is Rs 148,14,80,000”, the HYC said.
Lamenting that the schools of Meghalaya not only lack basic infrastructure but are also understaffed, the HYC said children are being deprived of quality education with 1,094 vacant posts in the Education Department alone and 36 lower primary schools functioning without a single teacher.
Pointing out that the increasing crime rate in the state is a matter of concern, the group said the safety and security of the residents have been further compromised with about 2,780 vacant posts in the Police department not being filled up.
“The recruitment notice for the posts of AB/UB category under Meghalaya Police Department for Eastern Range and Western Range was given in 2019-2020. However, admit cards for written examinations for the said recruitment examinations were issued only in 2022, after a long delay. Our youths are suffering with this process of delayed recruitment. They have no choice but to look for alternate employment opportunities while they await the conduct of examinations and interviews along with their results,” the HYC said.
Examination for 327 posts by MPSC was advertised on December 14, 2020, but is hanging fire, the group said.
It also recalled Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong’s statement that over 1,000 sanctioned posts are vacant in the MeECL for junior engineers, assistant engineers and executive engineers but these are not being filled up owing to the poor financial condition of the corporation.
“Where is the money for all these vacant sanctioned posts being spent? Is it diverted to fund those useless festivals in order to benefit a few? Or to fund some unproductive programmes distributed as freebies? The people of the state want to know where has the money gone,” the HYC said.
