Chandigarh, October 9
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and MP Bhagwant Mann alleged, “For the last 30 years, the Congress and the SAD-BJP government in Punjab have not formulated any policy to secure jobs in the public and private sectors for the youth of the state; which leads to candidates from other states occupying Punjab’s public and private sector jobs.” He said the latest example of this was the inclusion of 51 to 71 percent candidates from other states in the merit list for various posts of Punjab State Transmission Corporation Limited (PSTCL).
In a statement issued from the party headquarters here on Saturday, Bhagwant Mann disclosed that PSTCL has started the recruitment process for various posts and as per the prepared lists of the same, upto 71 percent candidates from other states have managed to get jobs. “According to the list released by PSTCL, out of the total 95 posts of Assistant Linemen general category, 64 posts have been filled by candidates from other states, accounting for 67 percent share. Similarly, out of 39 posts of Assistant Sub-Station Attendant, 28 posts were taken by candidates from other states, which constitutes 71.70 percent share. Out of 54 posts of JE Sub Station, 28 posts i.e. 52 percent jobs and out of 11 posts of Assistant Engineer, 4 posts i.e. 36 percent jobs were taken by candidates from other states.”
While commenting on this, Mann said, “The Congress party had promised ‘Ghar-Ghar Rozgar’ to the people of Punjab to get votes, but that promise is being fulfilled by giving jobs to the youth of other states; which proves that the interests of Punjab and the people of Punjab have never been on the agenda of the Congress.” He said while the people of Punjab could not even buy land in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan, but by violating the rights of Punjab and its youth, the residents of other states could also buy agricultural land here and get jobs. “This clearly means that the Congress and the Badal government that have been ruling Punjab alternately; are asleep,” he added.
Had they been vigilant, reservations would have been implemented for the youth of Punjab in government and private sector jobs, asserted Mann. He informed that other states like Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra etc, have reserved up to 80 percent job quota for the youth of their state. Bhagwant Mann said the interests of Punjab and the people have never been on the agenda of the Congress and the Badals and these conventional parties have now become experts in running mafia rule and when out of power; run the mafia together with a ratio of 75:25. As a result, the children of affluent and able-bodied families of Punjab are fleeing abroad, half of the rest are ensnared in drugs by drug mafia and half of them struggling on the streets against the government for employment; are forced to get batons.
Mann demanded from the state government that in the PSTCL recruitment process, instead of candidates from outside states, jobs should be ensured on priority basis for those deserving sons and daughters of Punjab who have been struggling for employment for a long time. He alleged that hundreds of young boys and girls were crossing the age limit every day due to government jobs not released by the governments for years. Demanding removal of the age limit in new government jobs, Bhagwant Mann said the government should do regular recruitment instead of contract and outsourcing recruitment. In addition, the government under a set policy should implement a reserved policy quota for the residents of Punjab in private and government jobs.
