The state government is taking a very serious stance on the current uncertainty surrounding the exact number of individuals employed, both permanently and temporarily, across its various departments, public undertakings, and affiliated institutions.
In a strong directive circulated to all departments, the Finance Department has set October 25th as a critical deadline. By this date, all cadre strength, including the precise count of contract and outsourced employees, must be meticulously uploaded to the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS) portal. Failure to comply will result in severe repercussions, as non-compliant departments will be barred from processing any salaries or remunerations for the current month.
This decisive action stems from significant allegations of irregularities during the previous BRS government’s tenure. It was claimed that the actual number of contract and outsourced employees working across various departments and agencies was inflated, leading to the alleged diversion of substantial public funds from the State exchequer under the guise of payments to temporary staff.
Consequently, a comprehensive initiative has been launched to accurately identify every employee working in different departments. This will facilitate a transparent assessment of the total monthly salary expenditure, ensuring accountability and proper allocation of funds.
Senior officials indicate a stark contrast in employee figures. After the Congress government assumed power, the estimated workforce, encompassing both permanent and temporary positions, reportedly swelled to over 1 million employees. This is a noticeable increase compared to the 9.16 lakh personnel recorded by the Planning Department at the end of the 2020-21 financial year, which included 2.9 lakh regular employees and 2.8 lakh pensioners (both service and family). The broad spectrum of temporary staff includes individuals on contract, outsourcing, honorarium, activity-based outsourcing, multi-tasking services (MTS), daily wage, part-time, full-time, guest, and hourly-based services across various governmental bodies and allied entities. All departments have been mandated to upload crucial personal details, including Aadhaar card numbers and mobile contacts, for all staff, regardless of their employment status.
While instructions previously required monthly employee data updates by the 10th, the recent circular highlighted a substantial backlog. The government noted with concern that “Many departments are still pending in uploading their data in the IFMIS portal.”
Officials further revealed the extent of the data gap: out of 5.21 lakh regular employees, data for only 2.22 lakh has been uploaded. Similarly, for the 4.93 lakh temporary staff, records for merely 2.74 lakh are currently in the system, leaving a staggering deficit of approximately 5 lakh employee details yet to be entered and verified.