Amarinder orders filling up of 1.2 lakh govt job vacancies

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered filling up of 1.2 lakh vacant posts in various government departments in a phased but focused manner, an official spokesperson said.

The critical requirements of departments of health, education and medical education and research will be addressed in the first phase, he said.

The directive came during a high-level meeting to review the progress of the state government's flagship 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission' scheme.

During the meeting, Singh asked Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh to work out the modalities for filling up the vacancies in government departments, the spokesperson said.

The chief minister also directed the top bureaucrat to hold a meeting of administrative secretaries to work out the number of vacancies to be filled in various departments, he said.

Amarinder Singh underscored the need for better coordination and synergy between the state's skill development mission and the department of employment generation and training (DEGT) to bridge the gap between skill training and the required job profile, the spokesperson said.

He further called for more technical training and vocational guidance programmes to help the local youth acquire skills needed to be gainfully employed in the domestic industry.

Addressing the meeting, Technical Education and Employment Generation Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said 30,000 youth had applied for placements in foreign companies at the 'Overseas Employment Camp' organised by the DEGT.

Several foreign companies participated in the camp to select aspirants for 5,000 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, the minister pointed out.

Acceding to a demand raised by Channi, the chief minister directed the finance department to immediately release funds to the tune of Rs 5 crore for execution of various schemes and projects under 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission', the spokesperson said.

He added that Amarinder Singh also asked the finance department to make a budgetary provision of Rs 23 crore in the next fiscal.

Amarinder Singh was informed that 4.53 lakh youths had been provided jobs under the government's ambitious scheme, the spokesperson said.

Of these, 37,000 youths had got jobs with the government, 1.30 lakh with the private sector and 2.86 lakh were employed under various self employment schemes, he said.

Amarinder Singh also gave the nod to holding a state-level mega job fair in February.