A committee set up by chief minister Mamata Banerjee to look into the rationalisation of administrative manpower has pointed out that a total of 11,656 employees, both regular and contractual, are required to run eight to 10 departments of the government well.

The committee’s proposal has an annual financial implication of about ₹85 crore. If implemented, the already stressed coffers of the state will go into a tailspin.

The state-level committee on rationalisation and optimal utilisation of human resources, which chief secretary B.P. Gopalika heads, has secretaries of various departments as members. The proposal was presented at the 24th meeting of the committee held two weeks back.

The panel will place the recommendation before the chief minister for a final call.

“If the departments’ proposals are accepted, it would leave the state coffers in real trouble. The government spends ₹66,223 crore annually to pay salaries to nearly eight lakh employees, including those of state-aided institutes, panchayats and municipalities. If the state coffers have to take an additional annual burden of ₹85 crore, it would be further stressed,” said a senior state government official.

According to the proposal, departments like agriculture, food processing industries and horticulture, health and family welfare, higher education, home, MSME and public works will require additional manpower for proper functioning.

But the problem is that the departments have sent proposals that will entail a huge expenditure. For example, if the proposal of the food processing industries and horticulture department is accepted, an expenditure of ₹5.39 crore is required annually to fill 142 vacant posts. The health department wants 300 additional employees, for whom about ₹10 crore is needed a year.

Sources in the finance department said the departments were asked to reconsider the proposals to find out which vacant posts needed to be filled up on an urgent basis.

“Once that is done, the government can think of filling up the vacant positions. But given the condition of the state coffers, it is unlikely that fresh recruitments will be made against the vacant positions,” said an official.

The government, a bureaucrat said, could consider sending employees from the development authorities, which would wind up soon, to the vacant positions. There will be some surplus employees also as the government is considering the merger of some departments.

According to officials, four development authorities could be closed down within a couple of months and at least four departments could be merged in the near future.

The state spends more than ₹50,000 crore annually to run various welfare schemes, including Lakshmir Bhandar. The burden of running welfare schemes could increase in the next couple of years as more beneficiaries come under the existing schemes and in all likelihood, some new schemes could be announced ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

“This is why the government cannot go for large-scale recruitment shortly. We have to use our existing manpower judiciously to ensure that the departments run smoothly,” said a senior bureaucrat.