Chandigarh, January 1: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered filling up of the 1.2 lakh vacant posts in various government departments in a phased but focused manner, addressing the critical requirements of departments of Health, Education and Medical Education & Research in the first phase.
The directives came during a high-level meeting to review the progress of the state government’s flagship Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission scheme.
The Chief Minister has asked Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh to work out the modalities for filling up the government vacancies. The Chief Secretary has been directed to hold a meeting of Administrative Secretaries to work out the requirement of posts to be filled in the various departments in the Officers’ Committee headed by him, an official spokesperson disclosed after the review meet.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister underscored the need for better coordination and synergy between the Skill Development Mission and the Department of Employment Generation & Training (DEGT) to bridge the gap between skill training and job profile.
Captain Amarinder called for more special technical training and vocational guidance programmes to equip the local youth to be gainfully employed in the domestic industry, and asked the Commissioner Employment Generation and Training to devise special training modules in sync with the Skill Development Mission for imparting result-oriented training to both the semi-skilled and the unskilled, in line with the emerging requirements of the job market.
Technical Education & Employment Generation Minister Charanjit Singh Channi apprised the meeting that 30,000 youth had applied for placements in foreign companies during the ‘Overseas Employment Camp’ organised by DEGT. Several foreign companies participated in the camp to select aspirants for 5000 job openings, but only around 500 were selected, which showed that there was a gap between the skill training and the job qualification of the candidates.
Acceding to a demand raised by the Minister, Captain Amarinder directed the Finance Department to immediately release funds to the tune of Rs. 5 Crores for execution of various schemes and projects under ‘Punjab Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission’ and make a budgetary provision of Rs. 23 Crores in the next fiscal.
The Chief Minister also asked Secretary Technical Education & Employment Generation D K Tewari to explore the possibility of utilising funds of the Punjab Technical University and Punjab Technical Education Board for financing various employment generation and training initiatives of the government. The Chief Minister also gave the nod to holding a state level mega job fair in February.
The Chief Minister was also informed that 4.53 lakh youths had been provided various jobs under the government’s ambitious ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar & Karobar Mission’ till now. Of these 37, 000 youths had got jobs with the government, 1.30 lakh with the private sector and 2.86 lakhs were provided help under various self employment schemes.
Commissioner Employment Generation & Training Rahul Tiwari informed the Chief Minister that a dedicated foreign employment & foreign study facilitation desk would be made functional soon to facilitate the process. A Punjab Job Helpline and a full-fledged digital & social media platform will also be launched to ensure maximum outreach amongst job seekers, he added.
Others present in the meeting included Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Special Principal Secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh and Additional Principal Secretary to CM Girish Dyalan.
