Vacancies in central government double, half of staff on contract

Every second employee in central government departments and PSUs is working on a contract basis.

In the past 10 years, the number of vacant positions in the central government has doubled. In 2015, there were 4.21 lakh vacant positions in various departments of the central government, which increased to 8.24 lakh in 2024. The vacancy rate compared to the total sanctioned positions has also increased from 11.5% to 21%.

According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, the total number of sanctioned positions in central government departments increased by 2.74 lakh, but conversely, the number of filled positions, i.e., working employees, decreased by 1.29 lakh.

Meanwhile, the dependence on contract employees in government companies, i.e., public sector undertakings (PSUs), has increased rapidly. In 2015, 18.6% of the total employees were on contract, while in 2025, this figure rose to 49.1%. This means that now almost every second employee in government companies is working on a contract basis.

In Railways, there were no reported vacancies in 2015, but in 2024, there were 2.40 lakh vacant positions. This is 16.2% of the total sanctioned positions in Railways. Similarly, in the health sector, the vacancy rate was zero in 2015, which increased to 6% in 2024.

According to the expenditure department's report on the salaries and allowances of central employees,

there are a total of 39,23,212 sanctioned positions in 80 ministries and departments of the central government. Out of these, 30,99,656 positions are filled, while 8,23,556 positions remain vacant. In comparison, in 2015, out of a total of 36,49,468 sanctioned positions, 32,28,921 positions were filled, and 4,20,547 positions were vacant. During this period, the number of sanctioned positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs increased by about 1.02 lakh, while the number of employees increased by about 49,621. This means that although appointments were made, the sanctioned positions increased at a much faster rate. Consequently, the number of vacant positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs increased from 58,774 to 1,10,885.

Government departments also use the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) platform to outsource services for vacant positions. Last year, a record 10 lakh employees' services were outsourced through this platform. According to experts, many departments and ministries are now directly outsourcing work to companies instead of hiring employees on contract themselves.

The highest number of 2.42 lakh vacant positions are in Defence (Civilian). Here, the vacancy rate compared to the total sanctioned positions increased from 31.9% to 43.4%. In the Postal Department, the number of vacant positions has increased more than eightfold. In 2015, there were only 7,561 vacant positions, which increased to 61,546 in 2024.

In the Commerce Department, more than half of the positions are vacant. In 2024, 55.4% of the positions were vacant, which is the highest vacancy rate in this list. In 2015, this rate was 37.1%. Additionally, 45.2% of positions in Civil Aviation and 41.5% in the Labour Department are vacant.

According to the Public Enterprises Survey-2015, in 2015, a total of 15,87,149 employees were working in 298 public sector undertakings in the country. Out of these, 2,95,975 employees were on contract.

In 2025, the number of PSUs increased to 475, and a total of 15,42,339 employees were employed. Out of these, only 7,83,728 employees were regular, while the remaining 7,58,611 employees were working on contract. This means that despite the increase in the number of government companies over ten years, the total number of employees decreased, and the share of contract employees became nearly half.

According to the expenditure department's report related to the salaries and allowances of central civil employees, 39,23,212 positions are sanctioned in 80 ministries and departments of the centre. Out of these, 8,23,556 positions are still vacant. Over the past decade, 1,53,264 new positions were added in Railways, but due to the slow pace of recruitment, 2,00,125 positions are still vacant. In the Postal Department, about 53 thousand new positions were added during this period, but vacancies increased to 61,540. There is also a significant reduction in the Ministry of Science and Technology. In 2015, there were 12,327 positions in this department, which reduced to only 5,375 in 2024. Similarly, the sanctioned positions in the Ministry of Urban Development decreased from 30,550 to 19,151 over a decade.

There is tremendous anger among the youth of the country regarding jobs. Youth are protesting in various places. In many departments, recruitment has not taken place for years. Applications are taken for recruitment, exams are conducted, but later it is found that the paper was leaked. Jharkhand is a recent example where students protested continuously for 26 days against the irregularities in the JPSSC exam. Although the government cancelled these appointments, the High Court has currently stayed the government's cancellation order.