Taking his government’s flagship ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar & Karobar Mission’ forward, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday launched a Mega Self Employment Loan Mela from Patiala as a culmination to the special loan melas held across the state during October-December 2020, wherein 1.70 lakh youth were assisted in getting self-employment loans from various banks. A token of 1000 loan sanction certificates were handed over to beneficiaries as a symbolic gesture across the state today, with the Chief Minister handing over certificates to five beneficiaries, namely Gurdeep Kaur, Rajinder Singh, Seema Rani, Baby Rani and Harjit Singh. He also paid a visit to the office of District Bureaus of Employment and Enterprise of the district Patiala at Mini Secretariat.More than 15 lakh youth have been facilitated in getting employment in Private/Government sector or Self-Employment since his government took over the state’s reins in March 2017, translating into 1100 youth benefitting every day from the Mission, the Chief Minister disclosed on the occasion. He further revealed that during this period, 8.8 Lakh youth had been facilitated for self-employment, while 5.69 Lakh youth had got jobs in the private sector and 58,258 in Government sector. The October-December 2020 drive had led to a total of 1.7 lakh youth getting jobs/self-employment opportunities.The Chief Minister announced that with the Covid situation now easing, two job melas will be organised every month in each District, and Government jobs shall be regularly advertised this year to achieve the already announced target of giving 1 Lakh jobs, of which advertisements have already been issued for filling up 20,000 vacancies.The Chief Minister said his government’s multi-pronged strategy on this front, along with the pro-active new industrial policy, had resulted in on-ground Industrial Investments worth Rs. 71,000 crore in the State, thus generating additional potential of 2.5 lakh jobs.
Given the limitation to appointments in Government sector, where only 13000 vacancies are created through retirement every year, his government had lowered the retirement age for government employees to create new opportunities for youth, said the Chief Minister, At the same, he said his government would continue to focus on promoting industries, self-employment and private spheres. As the Covid situation stabilises, jobs would increase in the industry, he added. The Chief Minister further said Medical Colleges, skill universities and private universities are being set up in the state to boost the skill levels of youth to enable them to find more jobs even outside the state. Underlining the importance of quality education to increase the employability of youth, the Chief Minister said that 15 Degree Colleges and 18 ITIs are coming up and English has been introduced as a medium of Instruction in primary schools. An Armed Forces Preparatory Institute is proposed to be established in Hoshiarpur to target induction of youth into IMA, OTA, Air Force Training Academy and Naval Academy, he said. In order to creating access to jobs abroad, a Foreign Employment & Foreign Study Cell has been established, he added.Further, to assist poor rural youth in finding viable avenues for employment, a unique initiative to provide jobs to at least 10 poor jobless youth of every village has been undertaken, leading to jobs for 72,716 youth so far. The MNREGS for Rural Employment has been strengthened which was practically redundant when my Government took over, said the Chief Minister ,adding the scheme has generated 913 lakh man-days since 2017, with yearly average increasing from 85 lakh man-days in 2007-17 to 228 lakh man-days in 2017-20 - a 156% increase in yearly average with job cards to 17.48 lakh households.
On the issue of some educational institutions withholding degrees of students due to the closure of Post Matric SC scholarship scheme by Government of India, the Chief Minister said that the state government has strictly asked such institutions to give degrees to students from poor families or else their affiliation would be canceled.On the occasion, Vikramjit Singh, a handicapped youth from Amritsar who got Rs 6 lakh loan for Gym, Sameer from Jalandhar who got Rs 10 lakh loan and Pardeep Singh from Sangrur who came back from Singapore received Rs 14 lakh loan for dairy project also interacted with and expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister.The Chief Minister also handed over self-employment loan certificates to five beneficiaries, namely Gurdeep Kaur, Rajinder Singh, Seema Rani, Baby Rani and Harjit Singh. He also paid a visit to the office of District Bureaus of Employment and Enterprise of the district Patiala at Mini Secretariat.Meanwhile, virtually joining the occasion from Amritsar, Employment Generation and Training Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said that Counseling services for youth interested in going abroad through legal means will begin on February 15, in a bid to protect them from exploitation by unscrupulous agents. As many as 10 lakh youth would be facilitated in the present year through job opportunities as per the vision of the Chief Minister, he added.Secretary Employment Generation and Training Rahul Tiwari said that 22 District Bureaus of Employment and Enterprise (DBEE) providing career counseling, free internet, skill training options, foreign placements, self-employment opportunities etc., have been established a one stop shop for the unemployed youth. Prominent among others who were present on the occasion were Member Parliament Preneet Kaur, MLAs Hardyal Kamboj, Nirmal Singh and Rajinder Singh, Jai Inder Kaur, Hardyal Singh Harry Mann, Chairman PRTC KK Sharma, Mayor Patiala Municipal Corporation Sanjeev Sharma and Director Employment Generation Harpreet Singh Sudan.