Srinagar, January 29 : The Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services in occupied Kashmir is grappling with nearly 41 per cent manpower shortage with 1,490 posts vacant against a sanctioned strength of 3,639, an RTI reply has revealed.
Of this, 103 posts fell vacant after termination of employees on December 15 last year as part of India’s ongoing anti-government employees spree in the occupied territory. “The department currently has 2,149 personnel in position, with vacancies across gazetted and non-gazetted cadres under both direct recruitment and promotional quotas. The issue has been taken up with the administrative department,” the fire and emergency services department informed Jammu-based RTI activist Raman Kumar Sharma in a written response.
Sharing the information with PTI, Sharma said the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services is operating with about 59 per cent of its sanctioned staff strength.“The shortfall is significant for an emergency response department, especially as more than 50,000 major and minor fire incidents were reported across the territory in the past decade,” Sharma said.
According to the data, the operational cadres remain the worst affected. Of the 1,619 sanctioned posts of firemen and firemen drivers, only 804 are occupied, while 815 posts — more than half — are vacant, raising concerns over the department’s emergency response capabilities. Senior and supervisory ranks are also facing acute shortages with both posts of joint directors, all six posts of deputy directors, and eight assistant directors out of the 16 sanctioned posts are vacant. The department is also without a prosecution officer, while all 12 telephone operator posts, five radio mechanics, and three RTM operators remain unfilled, it said.
Other vacant posts include 23 divisional fire officers, 44 station officers, 32 leading firemen, 72 firemen and one administrative officer, the data said.The second highest number of vacancies has been reported among drivers (314) besides sub officers (90). Several essential support positions, including medical and accounting staff, also remain vacant. News agencies