Special Recruitment Drives are launched from time to time for filling up of backlog vacancies. More than 60,000 backlog vacancies for SCs and STs were filled during the last Special Recruitment Drive (SRD).
"Another drive was launched in 2008 which concluded on March 31, 2012. The Ministries or Departments have been requested to send the final progress report of the drive. This was for the first time SRD was launched to fill up backlog vacancies reserved for OBCs also.
"The drive has concluded on March 31, 2012. As per information received so far, more than 43,000 reserved backlog vacancies have been filled up," Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy told Rajya Sabha today in a written reply.
Government is making all efforts to fill up backlog reserved vacancies, he said.
Instructions have been issued that if sufficient number of SC/ST candidates do not become available to fill up vacancies reserved for them in the first attempt of recruitment, a second attempt should be made for recruiting suitable candidates belonging to the concerned category in the same recruitment year or as early as possible before the next recruitment, the Minister added.