Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Opposition in the Assembly. He accused the previous BJP government of selling jobs and presiding over rampant corruption.
He said his government had “shut the door” on such practices and was focused on giving fair and transparent employment opportunities.
“During the BJP's tenure, jobs were sold, and corruption was at its peak. Our government has closed that door forever. Recruitment in education and other departments is now happening in a transparent manner,” Sukhu said during a discussion on unemployment and jobs on the third day of the monsoon session.
He also pointed out that the only change in contractual hiring was renaming it as “job trainee” appointments.
The Chief Minister reminded the House that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised two crore jobs, while the Congress had promised five lakh jobs for youth in the state in its manifesto.
"We are working to not only provide jobs within the state but also create opportunities abroad. For the first time, a separate Overseas Employment Department has been established to facilitate this," Sukhu further said.
He said his government was not only creating jobs within the state but also working to send youth abroad. For this, a new Overseas Employment Department has been set up.
Listing achievements, Sukhu said thousands of youth had already got jobs since his government came to power.
“Over 3,000 TGT teachers have been appointed. Batch-wise recruitment of JBT teachers has been completed. Recruitment for 982 TGT posts will begin by August 31, and the process is underway for 600 JBT posts,” he said.
He added that 5,000 pump operators, 2,066 meter readers, and more than 1,400 Geo-IT assistants and other technical staff had also been hired. Recruitment is also going on for 200 medical officers, 1,200 police constables, 700 Home Guards, and 984 patwaris. New posts like “Rogi Mitra” and “Pashu Mitra” have also been created.
Sukhu said last year alone, 34,000 employment opportunities were provided in both government and private sectors. The government was also encouraging self-employment in social media, IT and entrepreneurship. He said discussions were taking place with ambassadors of Japan, Germany and other countries to secure overseas placements for Himachali youth.
Also Read: Accusing Sukhu of giving wrong job data, BJP MLAs walk out
Taking a dig at the BJP, Sukhu said the Opposition was only using the issue of unemployment to gain sympathy and disturb House proceedings. "The BJP is divided into five factions. The leadership of former chief minister Jairam Thakur is under threat. Whenever he raises his hand to speak, BJP legislators like Randhir Sharma and Bikram Thakur also stand up to speak," he said.
The Chief Minister repeated that the Congress government was committed to merit-based recruitment. "In their tenure, there were only scams. We are working to give jobs to the youth. They are walking out of the House just to score political points," Sukhu further added.
He ended by saying the government was a “true partner” of the youth and promised to create “nothing but jobs” in the year ahead.
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