Policy bottleneck stalls hiring at Rajasthan Pollution Board, SC contempt notice still looms
The failure to comply led the apex court to issue a contempt notice to the Rajasthan govt in May, seeking an explanation for the delay and warning of possible action under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
The board's staffing target covers four categories — engineers, scientific staff, ministerial staff and support workers. Among these, the engineering section has emerged as the weakest link. The primary obstacle, officials told TOI, is a policy constraint regarding the recruitment of Assistant Environmental Engineers (AENs).
These posts are not open to direct recruitment and can only be filled through promotions from Junior Engineers (JENs) with a minimum of five years of service.
Most current JENs have only one to three years of experience, rendering them ineligible and leaving a significant number of AEN posts vacant. This has directly impacted the board's ability to meet its court-ordered staffing threshold.
The shortage of qualified personnel continues to hamper the board's ability to carry out essential functions, including pollution monitoring, enforcement of environmental norms, and grievance redressal.
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The impact is especially visible in high-density urban areas such as Jaipur, Kota, and Udaipur, where regulatory oversight is critical.
"There is no provision for direct recruitment at the AEN level," said Sharda Pratap Singh, member secretary, RSPCB. "Promotions can only happen after five years of service, and most of our JENs haven't completed that duration yet. This gap is one of the main reasons why the engineering cadre is facing a bottleneck," he added.
To address the shortfall, RSPCB issued an order in June 2025 to recruit 40 interns — 20 from engineering and 20 from science backgrounds. While the move aims to bring in technical support, it remains uncertain whether these temporary positions will contribute to the 55% compliance requirement.
The Supreme Court has scheduled a virtual hearing on July 18, where the Rajasthan govt must provide a category-wise breakdown of filled and vacant posts, with a specific explanation for the engineering backlog caused by the AEN-JEN promotion policy.
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