The HYC has asked Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to clarify as to where the amount of Rs 148 crore of salary of employees in many State government departments has gone since thousands of vacancies have not been filled up till date.
“Due to the misgovernance under the MDA government, the people of Meghalaya are suffering while the State’s development is being hampered due to unfilled vacant posts and delayed recruitment for various departments of different sectors,” the HYC said today.
It also cited media reports on June 1 which mentioned about the RTI findings that 3,367 sanctioned posts in various government departments are lying vacant in the State.
“During the just concluded Assembly session, even the Chief Minister refused to provide specific numbers. It was informed by him that the numbers of vacant posts are in the range of 3000. All these vacancies are of sanctioned posts and if we take for an average annual salary of an employee to be about Rs 4.40 lakh and therefore for 3367 employees, the total amount that is lying with the government is Rs 148, 14, 80,000 annually,” the HYC said.
Stating that the schools of Meghalaya not only lack basic infrastructure but also teachers and staff are not being appointed, the HYC said that children were being deprived of quality education with 1,094 vacant posts in the Education Department alone and 36 lower primary schools functioning without a single teacher.
“This is as per statements made by the Education Minister on the floor of the House,” the HYC added while also expressing doubt on the claim by the MDA government that its spending on education has increased since it took over power in 2018.
“If the MDA government’s spending on education has increased ever since they took over the reign in 2018, then the question that begs for an answer is why are the teachers not being appointed? How can schools be left with no teachers at all? What will be the future of the students of our State? Will Conrad Sangma or his ministers take responsibility for this mess?” the HYC asked.
Expressing concern over the increasing crime rates in the State, the HYC said that the safety and security of residents was further compromised by the action of the State government which did not fill up 2,780 vacant posts in the Police Department.
“Recruitment notice for the posts of AB and UB category under Meghalaya Police Department for Eastern Range and Western Range was given in 2019-2020. However, admit cards for written examinations for the said recruitment were issued only in 2022, after a long delay. Our youth are suffering with this process of delayed recruitment. They have no choice but to look for alternate employment opportunities while they await conduct of examinations and interviews along with their results,” the HYC stated.
It also said that examination for 327 posts by MPSC which was advertised on December 14, 2020 is still pending even as job aspirants from Tura, who had applied for the post of Surveillance Worker through the District Selection Committee (DSC), are also waiting for their interview results which were conducted way back in 2020.
“While the casual employees of Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited await regularisation of their services, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong informed that there are over 1,000 sanctioned posts lying vacant in the MeECL for junior engineers, assistant engineers and executive engineers but they are not being filled owing to the poor financial situation of the corporation,” the HYC said.
It also said that Meghalaya’s poor performance on key health indicators was being aggravated by the State government’s failure to regularise the services of specialist doctors who are opting out of working at State’s health centres.
“All specialist government doctors are appointed as Medical and Health Officers under clause 3(f). The services of such doctors have reportedly not been regularised for more than six years, depriving them of increments and other benefits. A total of 137 specialist doctor posts have been lying vacant in the State for many years now. No action has been taken to fill up such posts,” the HYC mentioned.
The organisation also said that in the just concluded autumn session of the Assembly, the Chief Minister failed to even provide any concrete figures on the number of unfilled sanctioned posts for various departments of the State government from 2018-2022.
“This is nothing but a proof of their incompetence and lack of transparency in their governance. Not only youth being deprived of employment opportunities but money meant for the salary is being diverted somewhere thereby causing a loss. Where is the money for all these vacant sanctioned posts being spent? Is it diverted to fund those useless festivals in order to benefit a few or to fund some unproductive programmes distributed as freebies? The people of the State want to know Mr Conrad Sangma. Where has the money gone?” the HYC asked.
