PESHAWAR, July 2: The restructuring of departments, rationalisation of staff, redesignation of posts and redeployment of employees during 2001-02 helped reduced the size of the NWFP government to 274,261 employees from 285,205 in the previous year.

The work force could be reduced to 269,582 once the surplus staff retired or adjusted against vacancies in government departments, said the white paper on the NWFP budget, 2002-03.

The volume of the surplus pool reduced to 4,679 in 2002-03 from 6,162 in 2001-02, showing a decrease of 1,483 employees, who were adjusted against vacant posts in various departments. The surplus is likely to reduce to 2,915 once the surplus staff of education department is adjusted against the 1,486 new posts and vacancies in middle schools.

It said the number of surplus employees of the agriculture department decreased by 81 to 498. The number in animal husbandry department reduced to 56 from 59 in 2001-02 and cooperation department, 77 from 126.

The surplus pool of the education department comprised 918 employees in 2001-02, which jumped to 1,764 in 2002-03. The number of environment and forest department employees in the pool dropped by 43, those of finance department by 13 and fisheries by 60.

The volume of surplus pool of general administration and technical education departments was zero in 2001-02, which jumped to 110 and 41 respectively.

Education is the largest provincial government department with 154,279 employees, followed by police with 34,790; irrigation and power with 6,524; religious and minority affairs, 7,082; home, 2,858; administration of justice, 3,107; agriculture, 3,854; animal husbandry, 2,651; excise and taxation, 3,136; social welfare, 3,378; technical education, 2,823; works and services, 8,513; mineral development, 2,020; and jails, 1,559.

During the last financial year, the NWFP government restructured the departments of education, culture, sports, tourism and museums, power, labour, technical education, industries, mineral wing, religious and minority affairs, environment, forest and transport.

In 2001-02, public health engineering, communication and works, housing and physical planning, food and agriculture, general administration and board of revenue were restructured.—APP