In the interim Budget presented by Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera on Thursday, the revelation to the fore is the State is saddled with a whopping over 1.16 lakh vacancies at various positions in the State Government departments, its aided institutions and PSUs.
The job vacancies, overall, have risen by at least around 5 per cent in many vital departments over the period of 2015-17.
According to the budget document of Medium-term Fiscal Management Plan, the State in the year 2016-17 is saddled with a high of around 1, 16, 987 vacancies at various levels in State departments, PSUs and other aided institutions. The State Government in the period 2015-17 has recruited only around 20,000 posts, budget data shows. Almost around 35 per cent of over 3.4 lakh sanctioned posts in the State institutions are lying vacant in Odisha.
The comparative data with 2015-16 reveals a rise in vacancies in some vital departments like Home, Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Rural Development, Works, Cooperation, Food and Civil Supplies, Skill Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water etc. The intriguing fact is when these vital departments could help the State Government in familiarising and delivering its pro-poor schemes to the masses and simultaneously would also cater to the aspiration of the around 10 lakh job aspirants currently in the State, the State Government’s hands-off approach towards such large-scale vacancies is primarily attributed to tight fiscal situation at hand.
Sample this. When State’s own revenue receipts in 2019-20 is projected at around Rs 44, 995.5 crore, the State’s administrative expenditure estimated at a whopping Rs 58,170 crore is more than the estimated own revenue receipts. And salary, pension together in 2019-20 is being estimated at over Rs 33,700 crore or around 6.2 per cent of State’s GSDP. In contrast, State’s own revenue receipts account for mere 8.32 per cent of GSDP in 2019-20.
Another disconcerting fact for the State finances is the debt stock of the State in 2019-20 is projected at 93.8 per cent of its total revenue receipts, including Central taxes and grants devolved. As the State is not in the pink of health, the recruitment for such large vacancies looks remotely possible in near future too.
Among the sectors that are saddled with the most vacancies are School and Mass Education followed by Health and Family Welfare. While a high of around 25,000 vacancies at various levels were reported in School and Mass Education Department, Health and Family Welfare with a vacancy list of nearly 14,000 emerges the second most department with high order of vacancies. Agriculture and Farmers Development department follows with over 5,000 vacancies. For this, the Agriculture Department was found wanting in outreach when Chakada enormity hit Odisha in 2017.