State to fill over 9,000 posts .

Naveen Patnaik chairs a meeting of secretaries of various departments

Indicating removal of restrictions on making regular appointments in the government sector by 2009, the State government on Thursday decided to fill 9,200 posts, including 371 doctor, 434 constable and 319 junior engineer.Official sources said that the decision to fill the posts, which were vacant in 31 different departments, was taken at a meeting of secretaries chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.“The Chief Minister asked the secretaries that developmental activities should not be affected due to lack of employees,” an official spokesman said.

MoU with Centre

r. Patnaik directed the senior officials that posts should be filled within a specific time frame.The government had been working to fill 35,808 posts since September 2007.As many as 44,893 base posts under different departments were abolished ever since the government signed an MoU with the Centre in 1999, State Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadei said.“As the tenure of restriction on making appointment will be over in 2009, the State government may go for making fresh appointments,” the Finance Minister said.He said though the State’s financial situation improved to some extent, it could not go on making massive appointments as a number of welfare schemes were to be funded from the State exchequer.
The Finance Minister said of the 9,200 posts, some would be filled on regular basis while others on ad hoc basis. – PTI