With more than 40,000 posts lying vacant across government departments in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Tuesday directed officials to fast-track the recruitment process and ensure that critical vacancies are filled at the earliest to strengthen governance and public service delivery.
As per news agency , data was revealed in a meeting, chaired by CS Atal Dullo, reviewed 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 of the Union Territory.
The meeting was attended by the concerned Administrative Secretaries; Chairperson, JKSSB; Secretary, JKPSC and other concerned representatives from different departments.
While reviewing the progress, the Chief Secretary stressed the need for expeditious filling of all critical vacancies to strengthen governance and improve public service delivery.
He called upon all Administrative Secretaries to hold regular follow-up meetings with their departments and recruitment agencies to ensure that pending issues are resolved and vacancies are filled at the earliest.
He emphasized that timelines fixed for ongoing recruitment drives must be strictly adhered to, and directed that all posts received by the recruiting agencies should be advertised without delay.
The Chief Secretary further 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.
During the review, the Chief Secretary also took note of several bottlenecks affecting certain recruitments in JKPSC and JKSSB. He examined each issue in detail and directed the concerned departments to issue necessary clarifications and resolve procedural hurdles immediately so that the recruitment process is not delayed.
Observing that prolonged recruitment cycles often create uncertainty for job aspirants, the Chief Secretary underscored the importance of conducting recruitment within a defined timeframe.
He noted that a predictable recruitment cycle would allow applicants to plan their careers better and reduce anxiety among candidates.
During the meeting, the Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), M.Raju presented a comprehensive overview of vacant posts across government departments. The data revealed that a total of 40,661 posts are currently vacant in different departments, including 3,808 Gazetted, 24,507 Non-Gazetted, and 12,351 Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) posts.
Among major departments, Health & Medical Education accounts for a significant share of vacancies with 2,497 Gazetted, 8,088 Non-Gazetted and 2,712 MTS posts, while other departments with substantial vacancies include Agriculture Production, Power Development, Finance, Revenue, Forest, Public Works (R&B) and Youth Services & Sports.
While reviewing the recruitment being undertaken by the JKSSB for Non-Gazetted and MTS posts the Chairperson SSB, Vikas Kundal revealed that since 2019 the Board has received 46,744 posts, out of which 9,260 were withdrawn, leaving 37,484 posts for recruitment. The Board has already completed selections for 32,956 posts, including 27,449 selections pertaining to this period.
He further added that at present, 10,035 posts remain under different stages of recruitment with JKSSB. These include 2,532 posts yet to be advertised, 4,768 posts at the examination stage, 1,258 at the selection stage, and 1,477 posts under live advertisements awaiting completion of the recruitment process.
Meanwhile the Secretary, JKPSC, Bashir Ahmad Dar apprised the meeting about the status of posts referred to the JKPSC for recruitment. He divulged that at present, 1,745 Gazetted posts are under process with the Commission out of these, against 1,573 posts selection schedule has already been drawn, while 172 posts are yet to be scheduled due to certain procedural issues.
He also gave out that a recruitment timeline has been worked out by the Commission for filling these posts. As per the schedule, 630 selections are targeted for completion by March 2026, 476 during April–May 2026, 158 during June–July 2026, and 309 during August–September 2026.
Additionally department-wise analysis shows that the highest number of posts with JKPSC pertains to Health & Medical Education (872 posts) followed by School Education (470 posts), General Administration (170 posts) and Higher Education (129 posts), among others.
The meeting was informed that all departments have shared the latest status of advertised posts, vacant positions and posts proposed to be referred to recruiting agencies. It was resolved that all clear vacancies without legal or procedural issues will be referred to the respective recruiting agencies at the earliest for timely recruitment.