86 Naib Tehsildar posts lying vacant across J&K

Srinagar, Aug 11: The routine functioning of offices of the Revenue Department across Jammu and Kashmir has been severely hampered in both divisions due to the vacancy of 86 Naib Tehsildar posts in its offices.

According to official data, 51 positions of Naib Tehsildars are unfilled in the Kashmir division while the Jammu division faces a similar crisis with 35 positions of Naib Tehsildars lying vacant.

The details about the vacant positions have been provided by the office of the Financial Commissioner, Revenue Department J&K to M M Shuja who filed a Right to Information application in the department to obtain the information about the vacancies.

The shortage has left the existing staff overburdened with revenue-related work and has created a challenge in maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of the offices.

“The vacant positions have not only strained the administrative capacity but also caused disruptions in the delivery of essential services to the public,” an official said.

Amid the delay in filling the vacant positions permanently, officials said that some of the vacant positions were being temporarily managed by other officials of equivalent ranks as their additional assignment.

“This additional charge syndrome further tells upon the efficiency of the system and causes impediments in the delivery system,” the official said.

The prolonged delay in filling these vacancies has led to delays in routine processes, causing inconvenience to the people in getting their genuine work done in a time-bound manner.

The stakeholders have urged the government to expedite the process of filling up the vacant positions of Naib Tehsildars to further improve the delivery system.

As per the official figures, seven positions of Naib Tehsildars are vacant in the Rajouri district while five posts are vacant in Poonch, and seven positions are unfilled in Kishtwar district of Jammu division.

In Kashmir division, 13 posts of Naib Tehsildars are vacant in Bandipora district while 16 positions are unfilled in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, and eight positions are unfilled in Kupwara district as well.