Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday questioned the announcement by the Centre to recruit 10 lakh people in the next one-and-half years and termed it an “election mirage”. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister claimed that far more posts reserved for the SC/ST and OBC have been lying vacant for years.
“Due to wrong policies and working style of the Central government, poverty, inflation, unemployment and rupee devaluation are record high and people are feeling worried and restless because of this. Now, the Centre has announced 10 lakh recruitments in the next one-and-half years, before the next Lok Sabha election. Is it not an election mirage (chhalava)?” Mayawati said in a series of tweets in Hindi on Tuesday.
Her reaction came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked various government departments and ministries to undertake the recruitment of 10 lakh people on a ‘mission mode’ in the next 18 months.
“The posts in the government meant for people belonging to SC/ST and OBC groups lying vacant for years are much more. The BSP has been demanding both inside and outside parliament that these vacancies be filled by taking up a special drive. The government is silent about it and this section of the society is affected the most by poverty and unemployment,” the BSP chief said.
The direction from Modi came following a review of the status of human resources in all government departments and ministries. The next general election is due in April-May in 2024.
“PM Narendra Modi reviewed the status of human resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people should be done by the government in the next 1.5 years,” the PMO said in a tweet.
Government sources said various departments and ministries were asked to prepare details of vacancies following Modi’s direction to this effect and the decision on recruitment was taken following an overall review.
During various assembly polls, the opposition parties have tried to corner the BJP over the issue of unemployment but the saffron party has been successful in neutralising the criticism with its planks of welfarism, development and Hindutva. It has also refuted the opposition’s charge on unemployment, arguing that its various programmes have led to a rise in entrepreneurship and overall employment generation.