Expanding welfare schemes, fiscal constraints slow recruitments in Karnataka

The Siddaramaiah government finds itself walking a tightrope as the five guarantees have once again come under public scrutiny amid the massive protests by job aspirants.

The ruling Congress was hoping to woo the youth with the ‘Yuva Nidhi’ guarantee scheme - a monthly unemployment benefit of Rs 3,000 to new graduates and Rs 1,500 to new diploma holders. But the huge backlog of vacancies and slow-paced recruitment left the youth fuming and the government embarrassed.

Fiscal constraints and lack of political will to implement internal quota for scheduled castes have slowed down recruitments, rue officials noting that the burden of salaries, expanding welfare commitments and reservation implications had not only slowed down filling up of vacancies, but also discouraged successive governments from increasing sanctioned strength. 

The sanctioned posts across 45 departments are 7.74 lakh (11.73 lakh including boards and corporations).

“In next five years, two lakh posts will fall vacant and get added to backlog,” said C S Shadakshari, president of state government employees’ association.

In the budget 2025-26, with an outlay of Rs 4.09 lakh crore, the committed expenditure on salaries and pension was Rs 85,860 crore and Rs 37,655 crore respectively (30 per cent of total budget).

Add to this, interest on loans (Rs 45,600 crore), cost of five guarantees (Rs 51,034 crore), & SCP/TSP (Rs 42,018 crore), the budget has little room for additional expenditure.

Siddaramaiah accused BJP leaders of “misleading” students in Dharwad.

“Recruitment irregularities during BJP rule (between 2019 and 2023) contributed to the crisis,” he said.

State BJP president B Y Vijayendra, countering the claim, said, “We were told in the Assembly that only 8,157 recruitments had been completed in the last three years and not 40,000. The government accommodates party workers and legislators in state-run corporations with ministerial rank, while vacancies remain unfilled”.

Listing recruitments done during its tenure, BJP said it had initiated action to fill up 30,000 vacancies in a single year (2022), across departments - education (15,000 teachers), health (1,048), excise(1,100), KMF (487), PU lecturers (778) energy (1,492 engineers) and home (3,484 constables), among others.

In 2021, 250 posts in the state reserve police and 5,465 posts in horticulture were filled up, it added.

The delay in implementing internal quota for SCs has halted recruitments, too.

The high court restricted the government from issuing new recruitment notifications based on enhanced SC/ST quota (as total quota crosses 50% reservation cap).

The court stayed the August 25 notification implementing 6-6-5 reservation formula, calling it “arbitrary”, allowing ongoing recruitments to continue. But appointments are subject to final outcome of case, it said.