While the verbal spat between the ruling Congress and the Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders in Punjab continued, former education minister and senior Akali leader Daljit Singh Cheema has hit out Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, asking him to explain why Punjab was lagging behind in providing jobs to youth.
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“It seems that either the CM is not aware of the standard procedure adopted by the Economic Survey through out the country, or he is trying to mislead the people again. Will the Chief Minister deny the fact that 2.69 lakh applicants have registered themselves with the State’s unemployment bureau, out of which 91% are categorised as skilled and 85% are [Class] Xth pass or above?” Mr. Cheema alleged.
Mr. Cheema said that, in his recent statement, the Chief Minister had accepted that only 57,905 youth had been provided employment and that his [the Chief Minister’s] “claim made in Delhi” during the recent election campaign, on giving employment to 12 lakh youth, was totally “false and baseless”.
‘High-handed’
The SAD leader accused the State government of high-handed behaviour with unemployed teachers who protested in Patiala, demanding jobs. “The young protesters, who have completed Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) and cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) were demanding jobs but instead of listening to them , the police used force against them,” said Mr. Cheema.
“The Chief Minister should accept that his performance over three years is a complete failure and that the government direly needs to work on providing jobs to the youth. The process for the same should be started at the earliest,” he added.
