Delhi government reels under acute shortage of staff

The data was revealed by the government in its outcome report pertaining to the Lieutenant Governor's Office tabled in the Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday.

Picture for representation The Delhi government's department of law has the maximum number of posts lying vacant. As many as 86.76 per cent of the posts are lying vacant in the

department, followed by the departments of art, culture, women and child development, and transport. The data was revealed by the government in its outcome report pertaining to the

Lieutenant Governor's Office tabled in the Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday. In the Directorate of Education (DoE), the number of sanctioned posts for the

teachers is 66,128, but half of the posts are lying vacant. This means there are more than 30,000 vacant posts in the department. "Education is one such sector that cannot be ignored.

The teachers are directly dealing with the students and are responsible for shaping the education system. This is the reason why every teacher in the school is over-burdened,' said a

senior AAP government official. The transport department of Delhi has 62.73 per cent posts vacant. Of the 683 sanctioned posts, a total of 365 of them are lying vacant. "We deal with

the public on a daily basis. There has been not a single hiring in quite a few years. Proposals are sent, files are made, but nothing is done about them. There are people sitting in the

office who create trouble for all of us. What should we say to the residents who are coming to the office with hopes of getting the work done?" said a senior official from the

department. Even in the department of health, many senior posts are lying vacant. For instance, there are 1,044 sanctioned posts for a pharmacist, of which 251 are lying vacant. According to

the sources, the department of services, that comes directly under the L-G is responsible for filling the vacant posts. "Since the department directly coordinates with the L-G, the

accountability of such a large number of vacancies lies on him. Shortage of staff affects the overall functioning of the departments and hence work at government's level is stalled,

too," said a senior government official.