NT Reporter
Panaji
The Directorate of Vigilance is facing a staff shortage as over 27 per cent of posts have been lying vacant.
The sanctioned strength is 79 out of which 57 posts are filled whereas 22 posts are vacant.
Some of the posts have been vacant since 2018.
This piece of information was provided by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in a written reply.
The response came to a question tabled by Opposition leader Yuri Alemao on Tuesday.
As per reply, the only post of commissioner of departmental inquiry has been lying vacant since August 1, 2023 while two out of four posts of vigilance officers have been vacant since November 2021.
These posts were to be filled up by the Personnel Department from Goa Civil Service/feeder cadre. The department is cadre controlling authority for the officers eligible to hold these posts. Since no suitable officers were appointed by the department, the posts have been vacant, Sawant said.
The only post of superintendent of police (SP) has been vacant from October 8, 2024, while one out of two posts of deputy superintendent of police (DySP) have been vacant since August 28, 2018 in the anti-corruption branch (ACB) of the Directorate of Vigilance.
Similarly, two posts of police sub-inspectors and one post of police constable have been vacant since August 28, 2018.
The posts of SP, DySP and PSIs were to be filled by way of transfer of police personnel from the police headquarters. Since the police headquarters did not post any officer, the posts have remained vacant, Sawant said in the reply.
Sawant also said that a constable was transferred from the Colvale police station to the ACB. However, the cop did not report to the ACB office till date.
One post each of chief technical examiner, senior technical examiner and two posts of technical examiner are vacant, while out of the two posts, one post of assistant technical examiner is vacant.
Sawant said that as per the extant recruitment rules, these posts were ought to be filled by way of deputation from state or central government officers holding analogous posts. However, despite repeated advertisements initiated through GPSC, no suitable candidates were found.
Hence necessary steps have been taken to amend the recruitment rules for filling up the said vacant posts through direct recruitment. The proposal in this regard has been submitted to the Personnel Department for approval, Sawant said.
The other vacant posts are: office superintendent (one post), upper division clerk (five), junior stenographer (one) and multi tasking staff (two posts).
