Karnali Province Local Governments Face Staff Shortage Amidst Unfilled Vacancies

Surkhet. There are 1,363 vacant employee positions in the local governments of Karnali Province. However, the local governments do not request for the fulfillment of employee positions. Local level representatives do not coordinate with the Public Service Commission for position fulfillment due to the practice of providing contract jobs to their close associates. Earlier, the Provincial Public Service Commission had also issued a notice. But no local level requested for employees. The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office stated that the number of vacant positions in the local levels of the province is one-fourth of the total positions. Out of a total of 5,660 approved positions, 1,363 positions are vacant. In the Education Service, out of 183 approved positions from fifth to ninth/tenth levels, 132 positions are filled and 51 positions are vacant. In the Engineering Service, out of 1,055 approved positions, 634 positions are filled and 421 are vacant. There are 477 vacant positions in Administration Service, 152 in Health Service, 237 in Agriculture Service, and 25 in Miscellaneous Service. The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office wrote a letter to the local governments on Monday requesting them to demand the vacant positions. According to Surendra Shahi, Information Officer at the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office, the eleventh meeting of the Karnali Province Coordination Council held on April 23 decided to request all local levels to send details of vacant positions according to the organization and management survey approved and sent by the federal government for local levels. Accordingly, on Sunday, the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office sent a letter demanding the details. "To ensure that service delivery is not affected due to the lack of skilled employees, local levels have been asked to send details within a week," said Information Officer Shahi. "The Provincial Public Service Commission will fulfill the positions as requested by the local governments." According to Santosh Pandey, Information Officer at the Karnali Province Public Service Commission Office, advertisements were not issued earlier because there was no demand for vacant positions in the local levels.