53% posts under Union Housing, Urban Affairs Ministry vacant: Government
What's the story
Union Minister of State Tokanu Sahu has revealed that more than half of the sanctioned posts under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry are lying vacant. As of October end, 14,009 of the 26,574 positions remained unfilled. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) recorded the maximum number of vacancies, with 10,030 of its total 12,932 posts lying unoccupied—a vacancy rate of 77.55%.
Vacancy details
DDA and CPWD report highest vacancies
The DDA was followed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) with 2,671 vacancies out of its 9,703 sanctioned positions. However, Hindustan Prefab Limited, National Cooperative Housing Federation of India, and Rajghat Samadhi Committee had no vacant posts. Sahu provided these details in response to a query by Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha member V Sivadasan.
Broader perspective
Widespread vacancies across central government ministries
Notably, the problem of vacancies goes beyond the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. In March 2023, Union Minister Jitendra Singh had said that 9,79,000 posts were vacant across all central government ministries. Further, Union Minister Sukanta Mazumdar had said that 5,182 teaching positions were vacant in central universities as of October end last year.