Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced that his government will soon introduce a new scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste (SC) students in the state. CM has accused the Centre saying it had “backstabbed” SC students as it had abruptly ended the post-matric scholarship scheme for them.
The Chief Minister said the new scheme will provide an opportunity to students coming from the weaker section of the state. This will ensure that such students can pursue higher education in various streams, which they had been deprived of due to the withdrawal of the scholarship scheme by the Centre, promised earlier.
This scheme was being remodelled by the state with the aim of ensuring that no Scheduled Caste student is deprived of higher education and also to protect their future. The CM also asked his administration to double its working time, and recruit one lakh youth in government jobs over next one and a half year, of which 50,000 will be recruited till March 2021, and another 50,000 by the end of that year.
The CM was addressing a virtual programme on the culmination of the 6th State Level Mega Rozgar Mela from Patiala. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present at the programme. Amrinder Singh stated that the Punjab government has been successful in creating employment for its people in the last three and a half years.
He added that his government has successfully created job opportunities for 13.42 lakh youth through placement and self-employment assistance under the scheme. Of these, 50,000 government and 4.04 lakh private jobs had made the lives of many youths. Besides this nearly 8.80 lakh youths have taken up self- employment ventures, he said.
The CM informed that reputed multinational corporate companies like Microsoft, and other private companies of India, including Trident, Guru Gobind Singh Refinery (HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd.), Bathinda, had played a key part in offering jobs to Punjab's youth along with impressive remuneration. Gandhi said it was the duty of any government to provide job opportunities for youngsters. Rahul Gandhi also shared how he was impressed by the leadership of Amarinder Singh and in facilitating gainful employment for youths through the scheme.
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He called youth as the assets of the nation and that employment opportunities for them could change their destinies and also pave new ways in the development of the country.
Punjab has always been a hardworking and peace-loving state, he said. Punjab has a considerable amount of capable workforce committed to their work and supporting the basic values of humanity. Pointing out that Punjab had once led the country in the small and medium enterprise sector, despite being a predominantly agrarian economy, Gandhi said the previous Akali-BJP government in the state had “decimated” it like it is doing now. But the present government in Punjab is continuously nurturing its cottage small and micro industrial units, which have an enormous potential to grow and result in job creation, Rahul added.