Three million Afghans are jobless. Yet 27,000 posts in the government remain vacant.
Three months ago, the president’s office issued a decree ordering government offices to announce interviews for all vacancies within three months.
Three million Afghans are jobless. Yet 27,000 posts in the government remain vacant.
Three months ago, the president’s office issued a decree ordering government offices to announce interviews for all vacancies within three months. From evidence gathered by Killid, it is obvious the presidential order has been ignored by some ministries.
The government of national unity has been trying to expand job opportunities and stem the flood of Afghans, particularly youth, leaving the country.
Officials in the Commission of Administrative Reforms and Civil Services blame the delay in recruitment on insecurities in some districts and changes in leadership of some of the ministries.
The most vacancies are in the ministries of education, public health, agriculture and interior affairs. In addition, the independent presidency of local organs and independent office of civil aviation are two other government offices with many empty posts.
Education
Nearly 13,000 of the 263,961 jobs in the Ministry of Education are vacant. Spokesperson Mujib Mehrdad claims the figure for vacancies is 10,000. He insists the new leadership of the ministry has started the process of recruitment of new staff. The mandatory exam for new recruits has been scheduled.
According to him, the ministry will first complete the process of hiring teachers and then move on to filling up administrative staff posts. While he did not give figures for the two categories, it is reliably learnt that most jobs in the provinces are for teachers. The ministry has set March 19 as the deadline for completing the recruitment process, he says.
The ministry has enough money to pay the new recruits.
Ahmad Masoud Tokhi, head of the civil servants’ union, told Killid the Ministry of Education has been told to fill up posts as soon as possible.
Health
The Ministry of Health has 1,732 vacancies. There are 18,395 posts in the ministry. Killid made several attempts to speak to the concerned authorities, but they were not ready to talk.
Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock has many vacancies in the administration. The total number of posts is 8,388. As many as 784 have not been filled. Lutfullah Rashed, spokesperson, pegged that number higher at 899. So far, under the government of national unity, 600 posts have been filled in the provinces and centre. Abdul Hakim Atef the head of Board of Review of Complaints says they have received 900 petitions on wrong-doing in appointments.
Meanwhile, there are 600 vacant posts out of 9,640 in Ministry of Interior Affairs, 420 in Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, and 325 in Ministry of Finance. Vacancies in other government institutions like the military, university teachers, employees of religious affairs, Attorney Generals and members of Science Academy are not included.
Local organs
The directorate general of independent local organs has 593 vacancies. Spokeswoman Munira Yusufzada says 800 posts were recently filled. The 300 remaining are in the districts or non-professional posts under the control of district or provincial governors. Since most are in insecure areas, the posts are hard to fill, she says. According to her directorate officials are working with the Administrative Reforms Commission to fill the vacancies. According to the commission, 4,000 of 6,070 posts in municipalities in 33 provinces are vacant. New employees would be hired after an entrance competition open to all, Yusufzada told Killid.
A new survey among youth has identified joblessness and not security as their biggest concern. The results of the survey were published on Jan 10. More than half of an overwhelming 82 percent who polled for lack of jobs said they were considering migrating in search of jobs.
Follow TKG on Twitter & Facebook
