Back in action: After a year of lull, Centre to swing into hiring mode

Will recruit more for central ministries and depts in 2022-23 and 2023-24

A year after a decline, employment in Central ministries and departments is set to rise a bit this fiscal year and in FY24.

While the staff strength of these ministries and departments is estimated to rise by 276,796 to 3.44 million at the end of FY23, it would be up by 109,266 to 3.55 million in March 2024, showed the latest Budget papers. The strength had fallen by 284,409 to 3.17 million at the end of 2021-22. However, the strength at the end of FY23 will be slightly less than the 3.45 million at the end of 2020-21. The staff strength rose in 2020-21 despite Covid-induced lockdowns that year.

The number of government employees in these ministries and departments was quite higher at 3.49 million at the end of 2017-18, a couple of years prior to the slowdown in 2019-20, than even projected for the end of 2022-23. However, the strength of 3.55 million would be the highest by the end of 2023-24 in the two terms of the government. By then, the Lok Sabha elections would be round the corner.

The staff strength may be higher due to the emphasis of the government on filling up vacancies through rozgar melas. Prime Minister Nare­ndra Modi had announced those in various parts of the country to recruit one million amid the Opposition criticism of the government failing to provide employment.

The size of the government staff is quite small. For instance, according to the data by the Reserve Bank of India, there were 42.4 million people on live registers of the public and private sectors in the organised sector at the end of December 2019. At the end of March 2020, the Centre’s staff strength was just 3.18 million. “It takes time for the government to announce vac­a­ncies and then fill them up,” said Ranen Banerjee, partner, economic advisory services (government sector), PwC India.

The financial implication of the increase in staff strength as well as the impact of promotion and inflation on allo­wances would be that spending on them would rise by almost 28 per cent to Rs 2.86 trillion this fiscal year and further to Rs 3 trillion next fiscal year.

The staff strength of the government is projected to rise in 2022-23 despite the Indian Railways, the biggest employer in this segment, showing a decline. Jobs there are projected to go down by 20,000 to 1.19 million at the end of 2022-23 from 1.21 million in the previous year. However, the staff strength of the railways is projected to rise by 100,000 to 1.29 million at the end of 2023-24.

Many would say the railways should not be reckoned on in calculating the staff strength of the government because it is run on a commercial basis.  If the department is taken out, the staff strength of the government would come down to 2.25 million at the end 2022-23 and 2.26 million at the end of 2023-24. The same principle may apply to the Department of Posts and the Department of Teleco­mmunications. Both employ less than 500,000 people.

After the railways, the police employ the highest number of people. Its staff strength is projected to increase to 1.12 million at the end of 2022-23 from 1.03 million in the previous year and decline to a bit less than 1.12 million at the end of 2023-24.

The other departments that would see a massive rise in staff strength this fiscal year are the direct and indirect tax departments. The strength of the direct tax department is projected to rise by 26,829 to 78,705 at the end of 2022-23. Similarly, that for indirect tax department would rise by 43,421, or over 88 per cent, to 92,650 at the end of FY23. The number of employees would, however, remain stagnant, like in the police department, at the end of FY24 at the level of FY23 in both these departments. 

As the health sector regained the focus of the Budget after Covid, employment in the department is projected to rise by 6,663 to 24,979 at the end of 2022-23 and further by 2,448 to 27,427 at the end of 2023-24.