Attempt to gloss over poor report card on job losses and unemployment: opposition

Mumbai: The Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday approved the recruitment of 72,000 employees to overcome a crippling staff shortage which has been holding back government machinery, especially in the agriculture and rural sector.

The first batch of 36,000 will be recruited for departments providing essential services such as health, and revenue. The government's current wage bill is ₹1.08 lakh crore on on 17 lakh employees. At least two lakh sanctioned posts are lying vacant, officials said.

Meanwhile, the opposition alleged that the hiring spree was just an eyewash to gloss over poor data on job losses and unemployment in the four years of the BJP rule in the State. “Last year, the same government had abolished over 5 lakh posts. There has been no replacement for those, as also for the employees who are retiring every year. The wage bill will not increase as is being claimed by government,” said senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik.

The cabinet has approved recruitment in the rural (11,004), health (10,467), and home (7,111) departments, among others, besides 2,572 in the agriculture department, officials said. The recruitment will help strengthen the machinery in the rural areas and also help the agriculture sector to grow. “The decision was approved by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today,” an official said, adding that the CM has kept a promise made in the previous Assembly session assuring recruitment in batches of 36,000 each.

In the wake of a serious cash crunch, the state had last year cut down staff strength by 30% inviting criticism from the employees union which had said it could lead to a dip in the state’s economic growth. But Mr. Fadnavis had assured all that the vacancies would be filled up soon.