With a whopping number of Assistant Section Officer (ASO) posts lying vacant, official work in all the departments at the State Secretariat has been severely hit, putting more pressure on the senior officers.
Out of 1,741 sanctioned posts, only about 300 ASOs are currently working at the Secretariat and the remaining 1,441 posts are lying vacant. Though, a notification to recruit ASOs had been advertised in 2011, yet no selection has been made. Only 40 to 50 Junior Assistants waiting for the promotion to the ASO post now, sources said.
Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been emphasising on filling up of vacant posts at monthly review meetings, procedural complications have not made way out for the recruitments, sources added.
Of a total 2,800 Junior and Senior Assistant posts, nearly 1,000 have been abolished as part of the cost cutting measure of the State Government.
However, the Government had created the ASO posts combining both Junior and Senior Assistant posts of the Class III rank as part of its Administrative Reforms in 2008.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Odisha Public Service Commission had sent a list of names of eligible candidates for Junior Assistant posts for the Secretariat. It also advertised for recruitment of ASOs in 2011 but no selection has been done so far.
As per rules, if the Government will have to increase the minimum age limit by years till the recruitment takes place.
Accordingly, the OPSC advertised by raising the age limit for the candidates as per an order of Orissa High Court with regard to selection in Odisha Civil Services.
Recently, the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) has also directed for age relaxation for the ASO posts and a final verdict is awaited from the High Court where the SAT order has been challenged.
To keep pace with the work load, the Government is managing works with the help of Data Entry Operators, contractual staff and the retired people appointed as OSDs.
The pressure is immense on the staff in all the departments due to the launch of several Government schemes.