In a strongly worded statement issued here today, Sukhpal Khaira, MLA Bholath, demanded that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann immediately issue a White Paper on the issue of the 56,000 new jobs being claimed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab.
Khaira said there is a strong apprehension that the figures of new jobs being repeatedly flaunted by the Mann government are highly exaggerated and fudged, aimed at misleading the people of Punjab. He further alleged that, in the absence of a proper domicile law like those enforced in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Rajasthan a majority of these jobs have been cornered by outsiders and non Punjabi youth, while thousands of qualified local Punjabis continue to languish unemployed.
He reminded that several states have enacted stringent laws to protect the rights of their native youth, ensuring that non residents cannot purchase agricultural land, become voters, or apply for state government jobs. “Unfortunately, in Punjab, the AAP government has shown complete disregard for the rights of Punjabi youth by failing to enact a similar law,” Khaira asserted.
Khaira further dared Bhagwant Mann to clarify why his Private Member Bill, submitted to the Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan in January 2023, seeking a domicile based employment law on the lines of other states, has been conveniently pushed under the carpet.
“Is this deliberate silence due to pressure from Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia both outsiders and non-Punjabis who continue to control the political and administrative reins of Punjab?” Khaira questioned.
He said the people of Punjab have every right to know the truth about who has actually benefited from the much hyped government recruitment drive, and demanded that the Chief Minister release complete data, including the district wise and domicile wise breakup of all appointments made since AAP came to power.
Khaira concluded by reaffirming his commitment to fight for the constitutional, social, and economic rights of Punjab and Punjabis, stating that “no government has the moral right to sell out the future of our youth in favour of outsiders.”