In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services 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. According to Kashmir Media Service, 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. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)