25,000 govt jobs announced after Punjab CM's first cabinet meeting

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's government on Saturday passed a proposal of providing a total of 25,000 government jobs in its first Cabinet meeting, the chief minister's office said.

"The Cabinet has passed the proposal of providing a total of 25,000 government jobs, including 10,000 vacancies in the Punjab Police department and 15,000 vacancies in other government departments," CM Mann was quoted as saying.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in its poll promise had said that after the formation of the government, they will provide jobs to the unemployed youths.

Among other poll promises of the AAP in Punjab, the national convenor of the party and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised to improve the condition of government schools and hospitals in the state, generate employment avenues, free electricity up to 300 units per billing cycle and also promised Rs 1,000 per month to women above 18 years.

He had also promised a corruption-free government and controlling drug menace in the state.

Earlier on Thursday, Mann announced that an anti-corruption helpline will be launched in the state on 'Shaheed Diwas (Martyr's Day)' on March 23.

Mann had said that the people will be able to lodge complaints against corruption via WhatsApp.

Ten ministers were sworn in today in Punjab, with senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Harpal Singh Cheema and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal joining the Bhagwant Mann led Cabinet in the state.

The ministers took oath of offices at a swearing-in ceremony in Chandigarh at Raj Bhawan.The oath was administered by Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

Besides Cheema and Dhaliwal, the AAP MLAs -- Dr Baljit Kaur, Harbhajan Singh ETO, Dr Vijay Singla, Lal Chand Kataruchak, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Brahm Shankar Jimpa and Harjot Singh Bains -- were sworn in at the ceremony in the Raj Bhavan.

The AAP won a landslide victory in the recently concluded Punjab Assembly polls, winning 92 seats, pushing most of its rivals to the margins of the electoral politics in the state.