Punjab fails to fill BBMB posts despite nod for special cadre

The recruitment to the vacant positions allotted to the state in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) remains stuck despite the Punjab Cabinet approving the creation of a special cadre to fill the posts more than six months ago.

Nearly 2,500 positions in the state’s quota are currently vacant.

When contacted over the phone, Punjab Irrigation Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal said the rules to create a special BBMB cadre were being framed.

According to sources, the Irrigation Department has already obtained approval from the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) to undertake the recruitment process.

A source said the government planned to fill part of the positions by diverting surplus employees from different Punjab departments.

“The remaining posts will be filled through direct recruitment,” the source said.

Sources said 1,486 technical posts are presently vacant in the BBMB, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of the 3,297 sanctioned technical posts.

These include 568 foreman positions, which are crucial to repair and maintain the Bhakra Dam, dam galleries, spillway gates, turbines and high-voltage transmission lines.

Punjab holds nearly a 52 per cent share in the BBMB and is entitled to a corresponding share of employees deployed across the organisation’s projects spread over Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The proposed special cadre was conceived to address this problem. Employees recruited under the cadre will be appointed exclusively for the BBMB and will not be transferred back to Punjab departments. As Punjab failed to post its own personnel, vacancies were increasingly being filled by employees from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.