Coronavirus | Moratorium on recruitments a blow to youth, says Haryana Congress

More jobs have to be created to help youth overcome the current situation, it says

The Haryana government’s decision to put a moratorium on recruitments to government jobs for a year, aimed at curtailing expenditure in view of the COVID-19 crisis has invited sharp criticism from the Congress party.

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Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said the move would severely hurt the State’s youth in these challenging times.

“The unemployment figure had reached a high of 28%, highest in the country, even before the corona outbreak led to the lockdown. This figure is expected to increase further after the lockdown. If the government freezes recruitment, how will the youth of the State get any employment,” he asked.

The Leader of the Opposition said data from the Centre for Monitoring India Economy (CMIE) and other sources indicate that there had been an increase in unemployment across both the urban and rural areas as many employed persons had lost their jobs. “Youth must be given more jobs to overcome the current difficult situation but the government is instead working in the opposite direction,” said Mr. Hooda.

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“Today, the State needs more and more doctors, medical staff, sanitation workers and other employees. Instead of freezing the recruitment of personnel, the process should be expedited in view of the epidemic. Only creating new employment opportunities can pull our youth out of the darkness and despair of unemployment.”

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said besides the moratorium for a year in the backdrop of the financial crisis following the lockdown, the government had also announced not to pay Leave Travel Concession to government employees for a year.

Asking the BJP-JJP government in Haryana to immediately take back the decision, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said the government’s decision was an ‘insensitive’ one. “I urge the government to take back the order,” he said.