As per the information available, the estimated sanctioned and actual strength of Civilian Employees (Group-wise) in the Central Government is:

Group-wise number of sanctioned posts		Number in position
A(G)	100869	87960
B(G)	86840	76724
B (N.G)	144454	113477
C (N.G)	3352380	2806396
Total	3684543	3084530

In view of the prevailing economic scenario and in order to promote fiscal discipline, Government of India has issued Economy instructions which, inter alia, impose a ban on creation of new posts. However, proposals for creation of posts are examined/concurred to in the Ministry on case to case basis if supported by adequate functional justification.

All Ministries/Departments are required to review their vacancies vis-a-vis the work load regularly to take necessary steps for filing up vacancies as per their requirements subject to extant guidelines and rules on the matter.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Ban on creation of new posts limits new recruitment; ministries may approve exceptions with functional justification. Central Government civilian employment shows sanctioned strength of 3,684,543 and 3,084,530 employees in position, with group-wise shortfalls noted. Government Economy instructions impose a ban on creation of new posts, while allowing case-by-case approvals for new posts supported by functional justification; Ministries must review vacancies against workload and fill posts per existing guidelines.