Srinagar, Mar 04: The Jammu and Kashmir Government revealed in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that a total of 32,474 positions are currently vacant across various government departments.
This information was shared by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in response to a question from MLA Handwara Sajad Gani Lone.
According to the Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of the General Administration Department, as of January 31, 2025, the vacancies include 2,503 gazetted posts, 19,214 non-gazetted posts, and 10,757 multi-tasking staff positions.
The Health Department has the highest number of vacancies, with 7,851 posts unfilled. Following this, the Health & Medical Education Department and the Animal & Sheep Husbandry Department have 3,759 and 2,589 vacancies, respectively. Other departments with significant vacancies include the Industries & Commerce Department, with 2,517 openings, and the Housing & Urban Development Department, which has 2,420 vacant posts.
In the past four months, the government has referred 3,727 vacancies to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Services Selection Board (SSB) since the Omar Abdullah-led government took office on October 16, 2024. Of these, 738 are gazetted posts, 1,754 are non-gazetted posts, and 1,235 are multi-tasking positions.
Despite the significant number of vacancies, the government also stated that there are currently no proposals to make job application forms free for candidates. This announcement came despite a previous promise made by the National Conference during the 2024 assembly elections to make application forms free for all examinations.
Additionally, the government disclosed that it has collected Rs 14.17 crore in examination fees from students appearing for recruitment tests conducted by the PSC and SSB over the past four months.
