Vacancies burden Education Dept’s senior officials with multiple roles

With nearly half of the Class-1 Haryana Education Services (HES) posts lying vacant, officials in the Education Department are struggling to manage additional responsibilities, leaving them overburdened.

Out of 84 sanctioned posts of Class-1 officers, including Joint Directors and Additional Directors, only 45 are currently filled. The remaining posts are being managed through additional charges assigned to existing officers. Sources reveal that around 20 of the 45 officials are set to retire this year, further exacerbating the issue.

Each district is supposed to have designated Class-1 officers, such as the District Education Officer (DEO), District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) and District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) Principal. However, in many districts, one or more of these posts remain vacant, forcing officials to take on multiple roles.

For example, in Ambala, while the DEO and DEEO posts are filled, the DIET Principal’s position is vacant and the DEEO has been given the additional charge of DIET Principal. The DEEO also handles the duties of District Project Coordinator (DPC) Samagra Shiksha due to the absence of a Deputy DEO.

Similarly, in Palwal, the DEO also manages the roles of DEEO, DIET Principal and DPC. In Yamunanagar, the DEEO is responsible for the roles of DEO and DIET Principal, while in Kaithal, the DIET Principal holds the additional charge of DEO. Faridabad’s Joint Director oversees not only the DEO, DEEO and DIET Principal roles but also manages additional responsibilities for Nuh district.

A senior official expressed concerns over the mounting workload, saying, “Due to additional charges, we cannot focus on school monitoring. We are occupied with Samadhan Shivir, RTI responses, CM Window complaints, court cases, video conferences and district-level meetings. Implementing year-round departmental schemes and programmes effectively becomes a major challenge amid staff shortages.”

Another official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, highlighted that the delay in filling vacancies is due to a legal hurdle. “There is no lapse on the government’s part. A case related to the seniority of principals is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Promotions cannot proceed until the stay is vacated. The Departmental Promotion Committee is ready and once the court clears the matter, promotions will be finalised. The next hearing is scheduled for February,” the official explained.

With the situation unlikely to resolve until the court ruling, the administrative work in the Education Department remains significantly hampered.

Despite several attempts, Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda, Principal Secretary, School Education, Pankaj Agarwal, and Director Secondary Education, Jitender Kumar, were not available for comments.