Patiala,: Carrying forward his vision of ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar’, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday handed over appointment letters to 25 of the 3683 candidates recruited by PSPCL, with the promise to generate more jobs in the coming months. A total of 1800 recruits got their appointment letters today.
Vacancies existed in other departments too, and would be filled up soon, the Chief Minister announced at the programme, which coincided with the first death anniversary of his mother, Rajmatha Mohinder Kaur.
Remembering his mother, Captain Amarinder Singh recalled her words exhorting him to do something for the farmers and the unemployed youth in the state. He had promised his mother that he would do everything in his power to alleviate the problems of the farmers and to end unemployment, said Captain Amarinder Singh, adding that, as Chief Minister, he had initiated various steps towards the fulfilment of his promises.
Unfortunately, his government had inherited a massive debt burden, with a mega fiscal mess, which would take time to resolve. Yet, said the Chief Minister, the government was well on track toward the implementation of its farm debt waiver scheme, which would be completed by November this year.
On the employment front, the Chief Minister pointed out that so far around 1.65 lakh youth had been provided jobs since his government took over. The government, he said was focused on employability of youth in the higher and technical education institutions, and would continue to generate jobs in both the private and the public sectors.
Congratulating the new recruits, who included assistant linemen, junior engineers, sub-station attendants and lower division clerks, the Chief Minister called upon them to dedicate themselves to the service of the state with total commitment. The remaining recruits will receive their appointment letters within a month, he assured.
Underlining his focus on industrial development, the Chief Minister stressed the need to promote investment in industry and service sector, pointing to various initiatives undertaken by his government, including power subsidy, to boost industry in the state. These measures were already yielding results, as was evident from the fact that around 100 industrial units that had been closed down have now revived, he added.
The state government was providing annual power subsidy of Rs. 1440 crores to the Industry, while the free power cost for agriculture was approximately Rs. 6,000 crores per year, said the Chief Minister, adding that power subsidy was also being provided to SC, BC, BPL and Freedom Fighters. The Chief Minister reiterated the need to educate farmers to conserve water and use energy efficient motors in view of the declining water table.
Lauding the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) for successfully reducing T&D losses to become one of the best performing power utilities in the country, the Chief Minister made it clear that he expected the power corporation to have zero tolerance to power theft.
Responding to concerns expressed by the industry regarding reliability and quality of power supply, the Chief Minister asked PSPCL to focus on providing uninterrupted power supply. Referring to the 36-hour power cut in Zirakpur, he said was pre-announced and had been planned to enable the department to upgrade the systems and augment the capacity to address the growing needs of the area, which had witnessed multifold population increase in recent years.
The Chief Minister hailed PSPCL’s efforts to speed up power connections, pointing out that 4 lakh new connections were released last year to domestic, non-residential and industrial consumers. In future, all domestic new connections will be released within 72 hours of application, he announced. Captain Amarinder Singh also welcomed the new Power Purchase Agreements signed by PSPCL at lower tariff to meet the state’s future demand.
Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot termed the occasion as another step by the Chief Minister towards fulfilling the aspirations and hopes of the people of Punjab. Lambasting the Akalis for plundering the state for ten years, he said even in the Opposition, the Akalis had nothing except indulge in baseless criticism of the government. The Congress, in contrast, had waived off the debts of the farmers and put the industry back on the course of revival, said Dharamsot. He was equivocally critical of the BJP, which he said was on its last legs in the country.
Health Minister Brahm Mohindra also hailed the occasion as historic, saying the process of implementation of Captain Amarinder Singh’s two key poll promises – farm debt waiver and a job for every household – was on track. He wished the new recruits the best, while exhorting them to work with honesty and diligence.
Former Union Minister Preneet Kaur congratulated all the new joinees, expressing the confidence that “with sheer hard work we will all make Punjab prosperous again.” She described the PSPCL recruitments as another step towards the fulfilment of his promises by the Chief Minister.
Power Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar also congratulated the new recruits, saying they would contribute to further strengthening PSPSCL.
Others present on the occasion included CM’s Media Advisor Raveen Thukral, MLA Ghanour Madal Lal Jalalpur, and MLA Rajpura Hardyal Singh Kamboj.
