Freeze on hiring for key Karnataka govt departments likely to go

There appears to be some good news in store for government job aspirants. The Finance Department is expected to give its nod for recruitment this fiscal year. Though not all recruitment requests will be approved, proposals will be cleared based on immediacy, according to sources.

A circular issued by the department has raised hopes among aspirants and various government departments, as it indicated that the government is open to lifting the freeze on issuing new appointment orders to candidates.

The circular issued by Finance Secretary (Budget and Resources) Ekroop Caur states that only a few proposals submitted by various departments will be considered initially.

The government froze the recruitment for government jobs on July 6, 2020, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The freeze came at a time when the government struggled to steer the economy back to normality.

Several departments had written to the department seeking exemption from the moratorium. The Finance Department had promised to approve some of the proposals after April 1, 2021.

"Administrative departments are now directed to submit those proposals again for re-examination by the Finance Department,” the circular states, adding that any new appointments will require concurrence from the Finance Department.

A source said that although the state was far from reaching the pre-Covid economic levels, the Finance Department would likely clear some of the recruitment proposals that it had sought for re-verification. Home, higher education, primary and secondary education, and health and family welfare departments are among those seeking clearance for recruitment.

Staff shortage is a grievance put forth by all departments. However, requests of only key departments will be approved initially. The proposals of small departments will be taken up later, the source said.