Odisha govt reaffirms promise to fill 1.5 lakh vacancies on merit basis
Bhubaneswar, Dec 5
The Odisha government on Sunday reaffirmed its commitment to delivering on its poll promise of filling up 1.5 lakh vacant posts for youths in the state over its five-year tenure, based on merit and through a transparent process.
Replying to an adjournment motion moved by the opposition party members over vacant government posts, unemployment problem and migration of youths, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said in the Odisha Assembly, "From now on, in Odisha, merit, not money, will be the only criterion for getting a job. We are committed to filling 1.5 lakh vacant posts over the next five years solely on the basis of merit and transparency. This is your government, one that understands your struggles and is dedicated to securing your future."
Harichandan also stated that in the last 18 months, appointment letters have been successfully issued to 37,371 candidates for permanent government positions. He noted that the state government has already started the process on a war footing to fill an additional 65,000 vacant positions.
The Minister also shared details of the measures taken by the state government over the past one and a half years to address unemployment in the state, while attributing the problem to policy paralysis and an unannounced ban on recruitments during the previous government.
Taking a dig at the previous BJD government, Harichandan underscored that the BJP-led government has moved the state away from the dark era of 'outsourcing system' and towards a clean environment of 'statutory recruitment'.
"The previous government had deliberately and through a well-planned conspiracy stopped regular recruitment, and in its place introduced a large-scale and exploitative outsourcing system. This system was not intended to improve administrative efficiency. It merely served as a tool to benefit the old political establishment and to accommodate their party workers," claimed the minister.
Meanwhile, the BJD Chief Whip Pramila Mallik on Friday alleged that the state government has completely failed to address the unemployment challenge. She said the repeated occurrence of question leaks before every recruitment examination is a cruel joke against the lakhs of job aspirants of the state, pointing towards the government's failure.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Promises are easy to make. The real test is delivery. They've given 37k letters in 18 months, which is good, but to reach 1.5 lakh in 5 years, the pace needs to double. And the BJD's point about paper leaks is serious - that destroys merit completely.
As someone from Odisha who has seen friends migrate to Gujarat and Bangalore for work, this gives hope. Ending the outsourcing system is crucial. Those contract jobs had no security or future. Bas ab yeh vaada pura karo!
Interesting to see this development. Transparency in public recruitment is a universal good. The scale of 1.5 lakh jobs is massive. Hope the "war footing" includes robust digital systems to prevent malpractice.
Merit should always be the only criteria. But the minister is just blaming the previous government. Every new government does this. Instead of politics, just focus on creating the jobs. Our youth have waited long enough.
Filling 65,000 vacancies on a war footing is the need of the hour. The outsourcing system was indeed exploitative. This move can reduce the distress migration from Odisha if implemented with true transparency. Jai Jagannath!
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