In line with his announcement a few months ago to provide 10 lakh Government jobs in a “mission mode” in the next one and a half years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched “Rozgar Mela” to hand over appointment letters to 75,000 newly inducted appointees.
The new recruits, selected from across the country, will join 38 Ministries or Departments of the Government of India at various levels in Group A and B (gazetted), Group B (non-gazetted) and Group C. These jobs, among others, are from home, defence, railways, banking and labour.
The posts on which appointments are being made include Central Armed Force Personnel, Sub Inspector, Constable, LDC, Steno, PA, Income Tax Inspectors, and MTS among others.
Addressing the appointees via video conferencing, the Prime Minister said, “Today marks the day when a new link in the form of Rozgar Mela is being anchored to the employment and self-employment campaigns in the country that are going on for the last 8 years.” While making “Diwali” for the newly inducted youths a little more “special”, Modi connected with youngsters in the selected 75 places where Ministers and MPs were also present with the appointees.
Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur was in Chandigarh, Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh in Bihar, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Odisha, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajasthan and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Tamil Nadu.
Similarly, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was presented in Maharashtra, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda in Jharkhand and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya was in Gujarat to attend the event. This is the first time in the country that such a “Rozgar Mela” by the Centre is being organised and appointment letters handed over on the spot.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said more of such “Rozgar Melas” will be organised by the Government. “The Central Government is working on multiple fronts simultaneously to create more and more jobs,” he said.
The PM said that completion of the process of selection for the lakhs of vacancies in a few months and issuing appointment letters is an indication of the change that the Government system has undergone in the last 7-8 years.
“Today, work culture is changing,” he said. “The efficiency of Government departments has increased due to the efforts of our karmayogis,” he added.
He recalled the days when applying for government jobs was “a cumbersome process and favouritism and corruption were rampant in selections.”
Modi said the steps during the initial years of his Government like self-attestation and abolition of interviews in Group C and Group D posts of the Central Government, have helped the youth.
“Today, India is the 5th biggest economy. This feat has been achieved because of the reforms undertaken in the last 8 years,” he said. The country, the Prime Minister pointed out, “leapt forward from the 10th to 5th position in the last 7-8 years.”
While acknowledging the enormity of the economic challenges that the country faces, the Prime Minister said that India could manage to contain the negative repercussions of Covid-19 to a great degree.
“This has been made possible because in the last 8 years we got rid of those shortcomings of the country’s economy which created hindrances”, he said.
“Never before a self-employment programme of this magnitude was implemented in the county,” he said.
Modi said keeping in mind the 75 years of Independence, the Central Government is giving appointment letters to 75,000 youngsters under a programme.
“We decided that a tradition of giving appointment letters in one go should be started so that a collective temperament of completing projects in a time-bound way develops in departments,” the Prime Minister said, explaining the rationale of the Rozgar Mela.
“I am happy that many NDA-ruled and BJP-ruled States, along with Union territories, will also organise similar Melas,” he added.
Welcoming and underlining the significance of the timing of their induction, the Prime Minister told the new appointees that in the ‘Amrit Kaal’, for the fulfilment of the resolve of a developed India, “we are marching ahead on the path of a self-reliant India”.
The Prime Minister remarked that the innovators, entrepreneurs, industrialists, farmers and people from the field of manufacturing and services have a crucial role in taking India to the path of self-reliance.
Highlighting the importance of ‘Sabka Prayas’, the Prime Minister said “everyone’s efforts are critical in this journey and this feeling of Sabka Prayas is possible only when all the important amenities reach everyone”.
Apart from self-help groups, he continued, Khadi and village industry are the prime examples of employment generation in the villages.
For the first time in the country, the worth of Khadi and Village Industries has crossed Rs 4 lakh crore and more than 4 crore jobs have been created in Khadi and Village Industries.
“A large number of our sisters have a huge stake in this,” he said The start-up India campaign, the Prime Minister pointed out, has established the potential of the youth of the country all over the world. Similarly, MSMEs were supported in a big way during the pandemic, protecting about 1.5 crore jobs.
MGNREGA amounts to jobs for 7 crore people in the country, he said.
The Prime Minister affirmed that the most ambitious project for the country in the 21st century has been the ‘Make in India’ and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
“The Government is working comprehensively in the manufacturing and tourism sectors as both have huge employment potential,” he said.
Processes are also being simplified for companies from all over the world to come to India, set up their factories and meet the world’s demand, he said.
The Government has also started the PLI scheme to give incentives on a production basis. The more production, the more incentive that is the policy of India. Its results are already visible in many sectors today. The data of EPFO which has been coming in the past years also shows how much the Government’s policies regarding employment have improved the situation.
He noted that according to the data that came two days ago, in the month of August this year, about 17 lakh people joined EPFO and have now become a part of the country’s formal economy. He said about 8 lakh such people are in the age group of 18 to 25 years.
The Prime Minister said India’s biggest strength lies with the youth of the nation. They are the driving force behind the making of a developed India in the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Kaal.’
The Prime Minister urged the new appointees to always keep their ‘Kartavya Paths’ in mind when they walk in through the doors of offices.
“You are being appointed for the service of the citizens of the country,” the Prime Minister said. In the 21st century India Government job is not just about facilities but a commitment and a golden opportunity to serve the people from every nook and corner of the country in a time-bound manner, the Prime Minister said.