Telangana: Embargo on recruitments

Hyderabad: The year 2020 will be a tough time for the aspirants of government jobs in Telangana as the State government has put the entire job recruitment process on hold and no fresh recruitment notifications will be issued in the near future.

Since many senior officials are retiring from service on attaining the superannuation and there is no fresh recruitment in the last three months during the lockdown period, the government is hiring retired officials in key departments like Irrigation, Panchayat Raj, Municipal Administration and Health & Medical department to tide over the work force crisis in the lockdown period to implement the schemes and deliver public services to the needy without any hindrance.

Top officials of the state government told The Hans India that no fresh recruitment will be taken up in any department this year until normalcy is restored in the public life. The government has planned to take up recruitment in Education, Health, Irrigation, Agriculture and Rural and Urban Local Bodies. ''Around 20,000 vacancies were identified but the recruitment process has been put on hold. Government would have to fill another 5,000 vacancies in the Police department if the lockdown is not in place."

"The total number of vacancies will be more than 50,000 if the new zonal system is taken into consideration in the state," a senior official said.

The major challenge in the recruitment process is to conduct of exams. At least 3 to 4 lakh people will apply for administrative and non-technical posts and not less than one lakh job aspirants will vie for technical mainly engineering posts in Irrigation, Energy and Panchayat Raj departments. The maintenance of social distance and strict follow of safety protocols in the conduct of exams attending lakhs of aspirants is ruled out until the state is free from corona scare. The threat of spread of virus is likely more in monsoon and winter season till next January. Taking into consideration the prevailing scary situation, government has taken a decision to stop the recruitment process by the Telangana State Public Service Commission, District Selection Committees and Police Recruitment Boards. Those who were already selected in the exams conducted before corona outbreak will only be given appointments and postings. To overcome the shortage of manpower, the state Irrigation department has hired 70 retired officials in the rank of Deputy Executive Engineers, Assistant Executive Engineers and Technical Officers to complete the ongoing project works. They were hired for a period of 15 months by offering consolidated pay.

The State Health and Medical and Municipal Administration wings were also hiring retired officials to provide services to people in the lockdown period. Nearly 500 retired doctors and paramedical staff and over 100 officials were pressed in municipalities on contract basis. The State Panchayat Raj department already hired sufficient number of retired engineers to execute Mission Bhagiratha and other rural development work. The Roads and Buildings department was also seeking the help of retired officials.