130 positions lying vacant for 5 years

Nearly 20% of the sanctioned posts at the National Library (NL) here are going to be abolished as the Union Ministry of Culture (MoC) has stated that posts remaining vacant for five years or more have to be abolished before recruitment for other vacant posts. The NL authorities have confirmed that the process to fill vacant posts as per MoC’s instructions has been initiated.

As per documents accessed by The Hindu, out of the 658 sanctioned posts at the National Library, 130 (19.76%) have been lying vacant for five years. These will be abolished when the process for filling other posts begins. Currently at least 53% posts are lying vacant. “The process for filling the posts [excluding those vacant for five years] has recently been initiated,” Arun Kumar Chakraborty, Director-General (additional charge) of NL, told The Hindu.

Describing the MoC’s latest instruction as a “good initiative,” Mr. Chakraborty said the Centre “is trying to fill vacant posts on a priority basis.”

Expressing his reservations over the Centre’s decision, the secretary of the National Library Employees’ Association has said that the move to curtail the sanctioned staff strength of the National Library will not only harm the institution but will also hamper services to readers.