CM in Assembly: “This Year Will Bring Jobs Galore” — Opposition Stages Uproar

Shimla, August 20 – Heated exchanges marked the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday as the issue of employment dominated proceedings. During Question Hour, opposition members pressed the government for employment figures, while Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assured the House that this year would bring “jobs, and more jobs” for the youth.

BJP legislators Vipin Parmar, Satpal Singh Satti, Vikram Thakur, and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur raised questions over the government’s employment claims, accusing it of failing to deliver on poll promises and misleading the youth.

Responding to the charges, CM Sukhu said that all promises made by the Congress during the elections would be fulfilled within the government’s five-year term. He reiterated that the pledge of providing ₹1,500 per month to women in the state would also be honored. He added that candidates selected through the Public Service Commission and the State Staff Selection Commission would be regularized after two years of service.

The Chief Minister highlighted that in the past two years, 5,960 new government posts had been created, while 1,783 redundant ones were abolished. Recruitment drives, he said, had already placed 7,000 teachers in the education department, 5,000 pump operators, 1,100 staff in nursing, and 2,061 “Van Mitras” in the forest department. In addition, results for 1,300 police recruitments have been declared, while appointments of 6,200 ayahs and 6,000 nursery teachers (NTTs) will be completed within the next two months.

Overseas Employment Opportunities
The CM further informed the House that the Himachal Pradesh Electronics Development Corporation had secured a central government license to facilitate overseas employment, under which youth are being placed in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Replying to a supplementary question by BJP MLA Satpal Singh Satti regarding the replacement of the contractual recruitment scheme with the “Job Trainee” scheme, Sukhu clarified that only the nomenclature had been changed, in compliance with a court order, and that the scheme otherwise remained the same.

Sharp Counter to Opposition
Taking a swipe at the BJP, the Chief Minister alleged that the previous government had opened institutions merely for political gain without creating posts to support them. He urged opposition members to note down the employment figures instead of repeatedly spreading confusion. “If what I am saying is untrue, the opposition is free to move a privilege motion against me,” he remarked.

Dissatisfied with the reply, opposition members resorted to sloganeering and eventually staged a walkout from the House.