Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday distributed appointment letters to 665 newly recruited candidates in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) at Bathinda, while claiming the state has provided 68,268 government jobs in four-and-a-half years.
Mann said the recruitment drive has ended what he called a system of cash payments and political recommendations that defined hiring under previous governments. “Not even a single appointment has been challenged in court,” he said, attributing this to a merit-based selection process.
Addressing the gathering, Mann urged Punjabis settled abroad to return. “I urge the youth to call their friends and relatives living abroad and tell them not to search for green pastures in foreign
lands but to come back to Punjab and get jobs here,” he said. He pointed to one candidate at the ceremony who had received three separate government job offers as an example of the opportunities now available.
On education, Mann said Punjab has moved from 27th place to the top rank nationally in primary and middle-school education, citing figures released by NITI Aayog. He said Punjab now records higher scores than Kerala in language and mathematics, with 99.9 per cent electricity availability in schools and computer access at 99 per cent.
Mann also announced that women government employees, after completing their probation period, would be posted within a 40-kilometre radius of their homes.
On welfare schemes, he said the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna covers all 65 lakh families in Punjab, with each entitled to free treatment up to Rs 10 lakh. More than 30 lakh health cards have already been issued, he said.
The Chief Minister said the Maavan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna will launch on July 1, under which women above 18 years will receive Rs 1,000 per month, with women from Scheduled Caste categories receiving Rs 1,500 per month.
On agriculture, Mann said canal water usage for irrigation has risen from 22 per cent when his government took office to over 80 per cent today. He said 14,000 kilometres of pipes and watercourses have been laid across the state, with recharge points created in canals and rivers. He said the water table has risen by two to four metres as a result.
Mann said more than eight hours of uninterrupted daytime power is now being supplied to agricultural tube wells during the paddy season, which he described as a first for the state.
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