Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday asked Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar to desist from “bogus photo-ops” to generate cheap publicity and tell Punjabis why the Congress Government was not fulfilling its promise of ‘Ghar Ghar Naukari’ and Rs 2,500 per month employment allowance to all unemployed youth.
“It is shocking that Sunil Jakhar was resorting to photo-ops in front of the Parliament to demand jobs for youth instead of forcing the Punjab government to fulfill the promises made to them,” said senior SAD leader and MP Prem Singh Chandumajra.
He said, “PPCC president has become fond of stage managing protests to shift focus from his failure to take the Punjab Government to task and force it to deliver. He did this on the issue of petrol and diesel prices after failing to get the Congress government to reduce taxes on the petro products, which are the highest in north India, by even one paisa. Now, he has again marched to Delhi with a ‘charkha’ to demand jobs not realising it is his duty also to ensure jobs for youth of Punjab.”
Chandumajra said in the run up to 2017 Assembly elections, Gurdaspur MP Jakhar raised the slogan of ‘Capt ne saunh chukki, har ghar naukari pakki”. “Now, after one and a half years, Punjab has only witnessed the family of a former Congress Chief Minister Beant Singh being rewarded with a job with the former CM’s over aged grandson being appointed as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP),” he said.
“Around 19 lakh youth have filled application forms to register for jobs which are to be provided by the Congress government. These youth have neither got the promised jobs nor the committed Rs 2,500 per month allowance,” he said.
Taking on Congress’ ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu, who had also participated in the “cheap publicity stunt” along with Jakhar, Chandumajra said: “Bittu should tell Punjabis why he chose to prevail upon the government to bypass rules and appoint his over-aged brother as DSP instead of pressurising the Chief Minister to give jobs to youth of his constituency.”
As for national employment figures, the Akali MP said that the unemployment rate had gone down to 4.5 per cent presently from nine percent during Congress-led UPA rule.