Kozhikode: Union Minister of State for Personnel Dr Jitendra Singh revealed in Rajya Sabha that there are 8.75 lakh vacancies in the central government departments and 3.03 lakh vacancies in the railways. The minister gave the reply to a query raised by Dr Shivadasan in Rajya Sabha on the matter.

There are 8,75,158 vacancies in the central government departments as on March 1, 2020. There are 21,255 vacancies in Group A posts and 7,56,146 vacancies in Group C posts, he said. 

Earlier, the minister had revealed in the winter session of Parliament that there were 97,757 vacancies in Group B. 

In reply to another question, Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav said that there are 3,03,482 vacancies in various zones. The number of vacancies is 2,292 in Gazetted posts and 3,01,190 in Non-Gazetted posts.

In the Southern Railway, 161 vacancies in Gazetted posts and 19,500 vacancies in Non-Gazetted posts were also reported. The Southern Zone has the highest number of vacancies after the Western Zone. 

There has been a sharp decline in the number of persons recruited through Railway Recruitment Boards and Recruitment Cells last year. In 2020-21, only 5,450 persons were recruited to the railway, while 1,27,067 people were recruited in 2019-20. Last year marks the lowest number of appointments in the last five years.