Promises to provide over 33,000 govt jobs in the next one year
The political compulsions or ambitions may have forced Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to announce thousands of new jobs in the government sector.
But experts said the state is not yet ready to bear this huge burden. On November 9 when the state celebrated its 10th formation day, the Chief Minister promised to provide over 33,000 government jobs in the next one year. This was in addition to the Chief Minister’s announcement of creating a whopping 50,000 jobs in IT and other private sectors during the period.
The experts, however, said it will be an uphill task for Nishank to fill all these government jobs since the financial condition of Uttarakhand is not very sound due to the sixth pay commission and various other factors. “Our fiscal deficit has failed to meet the obligations of the 13th Finance Commission which wanted it to be 3 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP). If we fill these posts, it will create an adverse impact on the development plans. Already our development plans are suffering due to squeezing funds,” said a finance department official.
In the government sector, Nishank said he would fill 12,00 vacancies in the class-III category. This means that the government will require Rs 300 crore for filling them since one job creates a burden of Rs 2.5 lakh on the state exchequer.
Besides, 4000 jobs are to be filled in police department where the official said there is no immediate requirement. “If we can manage the kumbh mela with the existing police force, I see no reason why we should go for new recruitment,” said the official.
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In addition to this, the government will recruit 4,000 teachers and 490 instructors in various Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). “We definitely need teachers but they should be posted where they are needed most,” the official added.
Nishank had also announced the formation of village secretariats at all the 670 nyay panchayats. In all, 670 such secretariats would be developed and 10 employees would be recruited at each panchayat. By doing so, the government will create 6700 new jobs. Recently, the finance department had raised objections over the idea of creating these new panchayat jobs.
For filling these vacancies, the government has already initiated the process. The move is being seen as Nishank’s attempt to refurbish his image in the face of a series of alleged scandal rocking the state.
Instead of filling these jobs, experts have suggested to the government to focus on all those schemes which can increase the state’s revenue.