RTI finds 8,23,656 central government civilian vacancies March 1 2024
An RTI query has found that 8,23,656 civilian jobs in the central government were vacant as of March 1, 2024, meaning about one in every five posts were not filled as of March 1, 2024.
Out of 39,23,212 sanctioned posts, only 30,99,556 were in position as of March 1, 2024, pointing to some serious gaps across departments.
Central ministries face large staffing gaps
The Railways and Defence Ministry each have over 240,000 empty posts, with Defence missing nearly half its workforce.
The Home Ministry is short by over 100,000 too, affecting roles in security and other vital areas like Health and Revenue.
Even the President's Secretariat and PMO are running with big staff gaps, over one-third unfilled in some cases.
The activist behind the RTI says filling these jobs could help both unemployment and how well things run: "These figures are worrying at a time of rising unemployment. Government jobs are the right of the youth. The government should begin the process of filling these vacant posts on the highest priority and in mission mode. This will provide employment to young people and also improve departmental efficiency," said Chandra Shekhar Gaur.