9.79 lakh vacant posts, max of 2.93 lakh in Rlys: Centre

New Delhi:  Over 9.79 lakh vacancies exist in different central government departments, including a highest of 2.93 lakh in railways, as on March 1, 2021, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.  He said the occurrence and filling up of vacancies is a continuous process, as per the requirement of various ministries, departments and organisations of the Central government. "Government has already issued instructions to all ministries/departments for timely filling up of the unfilled posts.

Rozgar melas being organised by government of India are expected to act as catalyst in further employment generation," he said in a written reply. Besides railways, there were 2.64 lakh vacant posts in defence (civil), 1.43 lakh in home, 90,050 in posts, 80,243 in revenue, 25,934 in Indian audit and accounts department, and 9,460 in atomic energy department among others, Singh said, citing the annual report of the department of expenditure.

Meanwhile, as many as 472 prisoners lodged in different jails across the country were sentenced to death and waiting for the next course of action as on December 31, 2021, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra also said that death sentence of 290 other prisoners have been commuted to life imprisonment.

The highest number of convicts (total 67), who were awarded death penalty, were lodged in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 46 in Bihar, 44 in Maharashtra, 39 in Madhya Pradesh, 37 in West Bengal, 31 in Jharkhand and 27 in Karnataka, he said replying to a written question. The minister said among the 290 prisoners whose death sentence have been commuted to life imprisonment, 46 were in jails in Madhya Pradesh, 35 in Maharashtra, 32 in Uttar Pradesh, 30 in Bihar, 19 each in Karnataka and West Bengal and 18 in Gujarat.

More than 19,000 students from OBC, SC and ST categories dropped out from central universities, IITs, and IIMs during 2018-2023, according to the Ministry of Education.  The data was shared by Union Minister of State for Education, Subhas Sarkar, in response to a written question in Rajya Sabha. According to available records, the number of drop out students from 2018 to 2023 in Central Universities (CUs), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in various courses is 19,256. While 14,446 students from the three categories dropped out from central universities during the period, 4,444 students dropped out from IITs, and 366 from IIMs, the minister said .