Srinagar: The Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir Government has outsourced 34,951 jobs through more than 200 private agencies across various government departments during the last two years, with the Floriculture Department and Health and Medical Education Department accounting for the highest number of outsourced engagements.
As per the documents available with The News Now, detailing department-wise outsourced manpower, the agencies engaged and the expenditure incurred under various contracts.
According to the official data, the Floriculture Department recorded the highest number of outsourced engagements at 12,341, comprising 4,350 field staff hired during FY 2025 till date for the development and maintenance of the New Chrysanthemum Garden at Chashma Shahi, 3,753 workers engaged during FY 2023-24, 3,530 during FY 2024-25, and 708 personnel deployed for the maintenance of the Tulip Garden at Sanasar in Jammu Division.
The Health and Medical Education Department followed with 6,518 outsourced personnel, while the Housing and Urban Development Department (H&UDD) engaged 4,581 sanitation workers through various outsourcing agencies.
The School Education Department outsourced 2,282 personnel, including 2,187 vocational trainers, 49 vocational coordinators, 40 contractual employees such as tele-callers, DEOs, team leaders, receptionists and MTS staff, besides six sanitation workers.
The Agriculture Department engaged 2,245 outsourced workers, including 1,119 during FY 2024-25 and 1,126 during FY 2025-26, while the Social Welfare Department outsourced 1,198 personnel, including 1,185 under Mission Vatsalya, 11 under DSWO Jammu and two under Mission Shakti.
Other departments also relied extensively on outsourced manpower. The Transport Department engaged 888 personnel, Forest Department outsourced 381 workers, Hospitality and Protocol Department hired 364, Power Development Department engaged 303, Youth Services and Sports Department outsourced 273, Revenue Department engaged nine personnel, Finance Department outsourced 123 workers, Labour and Employment Department engaged 51, Election Department hired 96, Higher Education Department outsourced 75, Skill Development Department engaged 94, Rural Development Department hired 53, Tribal Affairs Department outsourced 50, IT Department engaged eight, while several other departments also reported outsourced manpower for technical, sanitation and support services.
The document states that manpower was sourced through more than 200 private agencies, many of them based in Jammu and Kashmir while others are headquartered outside the Union Territory. The outsourced staff include sanitation workers, security guards, drivers, IT professionals, data entry operators, technicians, programmers, vocational trainers, electricians, plumbers, tele-operators, chowkidars and other support personnel.
In the document it has been mentioned that it was undertaken in accordance with the General Financial Rules (GFR)-2017, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), e-tendering procedures and other prescribed procurement norms. It maintained that outsourced manpower was engaged primarily for scheme-based, project-specific and support services to ensure uninterrupted public service delivery and operational efficiency without creating regular government posts.
The data also includes details of the private firms entrusted with supplying manpower and the contract values paid by different departments during the period under review. Meanwhile, the issue has sparked a political controversy, with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) alleging irregularities and a lack of transparency in the outsourcing process.
Addressing a press conference, senior PDP leader Dr. Mehboob Beg said Jammu and Kashmir continues to face an unemployment rate of around 32 per cent, while nearly 70 to 72 per cent of its population comprises youth. Referring to the National Conference’s election manifesto, he said the government had promised to provide one lakh jobs within its first year in office, but instead resorted to outsourcing recruitment through private agencies. Beg questioned why the government had bypassed established recruitment bodies such as the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) and the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) while engaging private outsourcing agencies. He sought details of the agencies, the criteria adopted for selecting them and the process followed for appointing candidates.
Alleging a lack of transparency, the PDP leader claimed that online application links issued by certain outsourcing agencies remained active only for a limited period, depriving many eligible candidates of an opportunity to apply. He further alleged that recruitments were carried out in a partisan manner and that beneficiaries were selected through political recommendations rather than a fair and competitive process.
Questioning the government’s claim of engaging thousands of outsourced workers in the Health Department, Beg demanded that the complete list of selected candidates, along with the selection criteria and details of the outsourcing agencies, be made public. He also displayed documents during the press conference, alleging that appointments in certain cases had been made through direct administrative orders instead of a transparent recruitment process. Calling for complete transparency, Beg said an elected government owed accountability to the people and urged the Omar Abdullah-led administration to place all records relating to outsourced recruitment, including selection lists, contractual arrangements and agency-wise appointments, in the public domain.
