Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Jan 9: The state government is facing shortage of 132 circle officers (CO), with 61 of the CO posts tied up in litigation along with the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC), informed Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday.
Responding to member Hayeng Mangfi during the zero hour discussion on the delegation of administrative power, the CM informed that there are 220 sanctioned CO posts but the litigation is affecting the recruitment process.
“There are also 48 fresh vacancies for COs and 19 fresh lateral entry posts, for which the government has written to the APPSC to conduct fresh exams for recruitment of the 67 new vacancies,” the CM said.
“The government has requested the chairman of the APPSC to publish the advertisement for the posts. Hopefully, the advertisement will be out soon,” he said.
Khandu also informed that after the recent promotion of 21 COs as EACs, the government has “sufficient number of a total 147 EACs.”
He noted that the insufficient number of entry grade officers is causing hindrances in proper functioning of the administration in various places, and gave assurance that “a mechanism will be devised, after revisiting the requirements of the districts with the chief secretary and the personnel department, to fill the gap.”
The CM suggested that Group A gazetted officers be entrusted with the charge of COs, but without magisterial power, till the shortage is met.
Participating in the short-duration discussion raised by Lokam Tassar on transfer and posting, specifically of Group C and D staffs, Khandu suggested that legislators and officers should be strict and focus on bringing efficiency in the work culture of the staffs to increase productivity.
