Over 500 vacant posts in the rural bodies of the Darjeeling hills will soon be filled after around 23 years.

The state panchayat and rural development department issued a notification on February 27, mentioning that employees would be recruited to gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads across Bengal.

Elections to the gram panchayats and the panchayat samitis in the hills were held in 2023 after a gap of over 20 years.

In the notification, the department has directed the district level selection committees (DLSCs) in Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts under the jurisdiction of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) to carry out the recruitment process.

“As the DLSCs for the hill areas in the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong are under the jurisdiction of the GTA, it will recruit employees to different posts,” said a source.

The posts, which will be filled up, include those for executive assistant, accounts clerk, nirman sahayak, block informatics officer, data entry operator and secretary.

Altogether, 535 posts are vacant in the gram panchayats and panchayat samities in the hills.

“There are 331 vacant posts in gram panchayats and 35 posts in panchayat samities of Darjeeling district. In a similar manner, 151 posts are vacant in panchayats and 18 in the panchayat samitis of Kalimpong district,” the source said.

GTA chief executive Anit Thapa said the recruitment would provide employment to hill youths and help in the better functioning of the rural bodies. “After relentlessly working together with the state government, we could get elected representatives in the rural bodies of the hills after two decades. Now, the state has decided to appoint employees in various posts. Educated youths can apply for jobs,” said Thapa.

There will be recruitments in the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (SMP) as well.

“Employees will be recruited to 29 posts at the SMP,” said a source.