6 days ago
All is not well at AYUSH ministry: Acute staff shortage plagues autonomous bodies as 45% posts stay vacant
Nearly 45% posts remain vacant at various autonomous bodies under the Ministry of Ayush, tasked with the development, research, and promotion of traditional and alternative medicine systems across the country, Minister of State Pratap Rao Jadhav informed Parliament on 1 August.
Until March this year, out of 5,361 sanctioned posts, only 2,977 were filled and the remaining 2,384 positions were vacant. MP Harish Chandra Meena sought the information as an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha.
This staffing shortfall is particularly acute in certain institutes such as the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Folk Medicine Research (NEIAFMR), Pasighat, where over 95% of posts remain vacant, and the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), Jamnagar, with nearly 59% vacancies. Larger institutes like the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) also face a substantial number of vacancies despite their high sanctioned strength.
The NEIAFMR has 86 vacancies out of 90 sanctioned posts, while ITRA has 318 vacant posts, considering its 539 allocated. CCRUM New Delhi has 345 vacant posts out of 766 allocated, while the CCRAS New Delhi has 1,708 posts, of which 894 remain vacant. The NIUM, Bangalore has 101 vacancies out of 212 sanctioned posts.
Conversely, some institutes have achieved strong staffing levels, such as the National Institute of Siddha (NIS), Chennai, with 95 of 105 posts filled, and the Central Council for Research in Siddha (CCRS), Chennai, where 224 out of 251 positions are occupied, reflecting a fill rate of over 80%.
'The necessary action in filling up the vacant posts in various autonomous bodies under the Ministry of Ayush is taken by concerned autonomous bodies in accordance with their respective Recruitment Rules (RRs) and stipulated procedure,' the ministry stated.
The Ministry of AYUSH has announced a recruitment drive for more than 300 vacancies across various departments. Interested candidates can apply online through the official website, The deadline to submit applications is 31 August 2025. This recruitment notification from the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) covers multiple positions in Group A, B, and C categories such as Research Officers, Staff Nurses, Assistants, Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS), Lower Division Clerks (LDC), and Stenographers.
