Khattar govt in Oppn’s crosshairs after scrapping many posts, rejecting OPS

With Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar already having taken a hardline position on “not implementing the Old Pension Scheme (OPS)” in Haryana, this move will further fuel the Opposition’s criticism of the BJP-JJP coalition government. Several farmers’ and employees’ unions were already protesting against the state government’s policies in different parts of the state.

The Assembly’s forthcoming budget session, beginning February 20, would be a stormy one as the Opposition is set to rake up these issues.

“All posts, whether newly created or old, kept in abeyance, or which remain unfilled/vacant for the last two years, may be deemed abolished. Formal abolition orders are to be issued within one month by the department concerned, under intimation to the finance department (expenditure controlling branch), and the same should be updated on e-post in consultation with the finance department. Revival of post after two years will not be considered in any case,” read the orders issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) T V S N Prasad on February 6.

“In case the department needs these posts, then a fresh proposal for creating a new post after following the prescribed procedure containing full functional justification may be forwarded to the finance department,” the orders further said.

However, these conditions will not be applicable to “posts for which the requisition have already been sent to Haryana Public Service Commission or Haryana Staff Selection Commission, and for which advertisements have been issued by them, and all posts that are going to be filled by way of promotion,” the orders clarified.

Haryana Opposition parties have been relentlessly attacking the Khattar-Dushyant Chautala coalition government on the issue of unemployment. Citing figures released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the Opposition has accused the state government of making Haryana “No. 1 in the country on unemployment with the highest unemployment rate of over 37 per cent”.

However, the Khattar government has refused to acknowledge the CMIE’s figures, and has been maintaining that the unemployment rate in the state is around 6 per cent. Also, the government is promoting an alternative to regular government jobs through its Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN) — an agency recruiting job seekers on contractual basis. The HKRN, too, has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition. However, Khattar has been maintaining that he “can not” fill all vacant posts and that “a rationalisation was required” to find out the actual need of a particular post that requires to be filled.

The issue of vacant government posts had cropped up during the Assembly’s winter session (December 26-28). The Opposition leaders, including Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda and INLD MLA Abhay Chautala, launched a scathing attack on the Khattar government on the issue.

In December 2022, the CMIE, in its unemployment rate data, had shown that Haryana had the highest unemployment rate at 37.4 per cent in the month of December, followed by Rajasthan at 28.5 per cent, Delhi at 20.8 per cent, Bihar at 19.1 per cent, and Jharkhand at 18 per cent.

“It is extremely shameful that between 2014 and 2022, the BJP-JJP coalition government had collected Rs 206 crore from unemployed youth as registration fees, but failed to provide them with permanent government jobs. It is even more worrisome that the coalition government is also shunting out such employees who had been working for several years,” Chautala said, adding, “The Haryana government has made Haryana Public Service Commission and Haryana Staff Selection Commission redundant.”

Khattar has said that, “A rationalisation commission will be set up in the state to rationalise posts in government departments as per requirement. This commission will rationalise the number of posts in every department so that vacant posts are filled up not on political reasons but on the basis of the need of a particular department.”

The CM also said, “It may be possible to provide only 20,000 government jobs in a year, not more than that. We have given 1 lakh jobs in the last eight years, and now efforts will be made to recruit a maximum 50,000 more employees in the coming days.” However, he did not specify if these 50,000 would be recruited for regular government jobs or shall be taken on contract through the HKRN.

Citing various steps his government was taking to ensure better employment in the state, Khattar backed the HKRN. “Through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam, manpower is being made available in government departments and corporations in a transparent manner. Also, if any private company or agency is in need of manpower, then it can send its demand to the Nigam. The government has made a system in which EPF and ESI benefits are also being ensured to the youths. The state government has constituted an Overseas Placement Cell. Under this, assistance is being provided by the government to send the youths abroad to provide employment opportunities. Until now, only private agencies used to send youths abroad through illegal means. Thus, the government introduced a fair platform, so that youths can take advantage of this and find employment opportunities abroad in a transparent manner.”

Hooda responded by saying, “While on the one hand, employment opportunities are plummeting to new lows every month, on the other, the BJP-JJP coalition government is constantly playing with the future of unemployed youths. About 1.8 lakh posts are lying vacant in the government departments of Haryana. Instead of making permanent recruitment against these posts, the government is promoting the practice of hiring contractual employees through Skill Employment Corporation.”

Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala also tweeted: “BJP-JJP government’s gift to the youth. Posts end, employment ends scheme. Naa rahegi post, naa deni padegi naukri.”