32474 posts vacant in deptts: J&K Govt

Jammu : The Jammu & Kashmir Government on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that a staggering 32,474 posts are lying vacant across different departments in Jammu & Kashmir.
In a written response to a question of MLA Handwara the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who happens to be Minister in-charge, General Administration Department, said that 32474 posts are vacant in different departments as on January 31, 2025.
Of these, 2,503 are gazetted posts, 19,214 are non-gazetted posts, and 10,757 are multi-tasking staff positions, the CM said.
The highest number of posts are vacant in the Health Department, with 7,851 vacancies.
It is followed by the Health & Medical Education department and Animal & Sheep Husbandry Department with 3759 and 2589 vacancies, respectively.
According to the reply, there are 2517 vacancies in the Industries & Commerce Department and 2420 in Housing & Urban Development Department.
In the past four months, the Government informed that 3727 vacancies have been referred to Public Service Commission and Services Selection Board since October 16, 2024, the day when Omar Abdullah-led government took oath.
Of these, 738 are gazetted posts, 1754 non-gazetted posts and 1235 multi-tasking slots.
The Government also revealed that it has no proposal to make job application forms free for job aspirants.
“Presently, no such proposal is under consideration in the Government,” it said.
In the past four months, the government revealed that it has collected Rs 14. 17 crore examination fee from students appearing in recruiting tests conducted by SSB and PSC.
In its election manifesto for last year’s assembly polls, the National Conference had promised to make job application forms free for all the examinations.
“The job application will be made free for all the examinations,” the party had promised in its manifesto
Undisclosed properties linked to drug trade to be seized: DIG North Kashmir
Srinagar : Deputy Inspector General of Police north Kashmir, Maqsood-Ul-Zaman on Tuesday said that undisclosed properties of drug peddlers are being identified and will be seized soon.
Talking to reporters in Sumbal, the DIG said that the drug menace has deep roots in the society, which is why it remains police’s priority. “We have taken significant steps in north Kashmir, including large recoveries and action against key figures involved in drug trafficking,” he said.
He said that properties linked to drug money had been seized. “We have already acted on four properties acquired through drug proceeds, and investigations are ongoing. We are tracing both forward and backward linkages to identify and seize assets accumulated by drug peddlers and kingpins under different names,” he stated.
Speaking about new criminal laws, he said that the laws that have been introduced are focused on victims. “We met the public today to inform them about these laws, as their successful implementation depends on public awareness.”
He added that the police discussed key legal provisions such as zero FIRs, digital FIRs, and the distribution of proceeds of crime to victims