Modi to launch drive to recruit 1mn on Sat

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will launch the ‘Rozgar Mela’, a recruitment drive to provide employment to one million people by filling up “existing vacancies against sanctioned posts in a mission mode”, according to a release by the Union government on Thursday.

As part of the drive, appointment letters will be issued to 75,000 candidates during a virtual ceremony on Saturday, the release said.

On June 14, Modi had directed all ministries and departments to take measures in a “mission mode” to provide employment to one million people in the next 18 months.

The order was issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the status of human resources in government establishments, in an announcement clearly aimed at boosting employment at a time when high inflation is threatening a fledgling economic recovery.

The decision also came amid constant criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led Union government by opposition parties over alleged lack of adequate employment opportunities.

“The drive will be a significant step forward towards fulfilling the continuous commitment of the Prime Minister to providing job opportunities for the youth and ensuring welfare of citizens. As per the directions of the Prime Minister, all Ministries and Departments are working towards filling up existing vacancies against sanctioned posts in Mission Mode,” the government release said.

The recruitment is taking place to fill vacancies in 38 central ministries/departments. The appointees will join the government at various levels: Group-A, Group-B (Gazetted), Group-B (Non-Gazetted) and Group-C.

“The posts on which appointments are being made include Central Armed Force Personnel, Sub Inspector, Constable, LDC, Steno, PA, Income Tax Inspectors, MTS, among others,” the release said.

The ministries are either conducting the drives themselves or using recruitment agencies such as Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission and Railway Recruitment Board. “For expeditious recruitment, selection processes have been simplified and made tech enament). bled,” the government said.

According to the data available with the government, there are over 900,000 vacancies – 23,454 vacancies in Group-A, 118,807 in Group-B and 836,936 in Group-C.

Ninety-eight percent of the vacancies are in Group-B and Group-C services, according to data shared by the department of personnel and training in Lok Sabha earlier this year.

“Creation and filling up of posts in the Central Government is the responsibility of the concerned Ministry/Department and it is a continuous process,” Union minister Jitender Singh had said in written response to a question in the Lower House.

“Vacancies in various Ministries/Departments of the Central Government, their attached/subordinate offices arise due to retirement, promotion, resignation, death etc. All Ministries/Departments of the Central Government have been asked to take action in a mission mode for filling up of vacant posts in a time bound manner,” he added.

An interministerial task force was also set up by the department of personnel and training in August this year to fill the vacancies.

AS PART OF THE DRIVE TODAY, APPOINTMENT LETTERS WILL BE ISSUED TO 75,000 CANDIDATES DURING A VIRTUAL CEREMONY