Chandigarh:

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said his government has given 36,524 appointment letters of government jobs to the youth in the past 18 months of being in the office.

Addressing a gathering during a function to hand over appointment letters to 427 recruits in power, education, forest and other departments, Mann said it is a rare feat as none of the previous governments have achieved this milestone in such a short span of its tenure.

He said in the last 25 days, the state government has given appointment letters to 7,660 youth in the state.

A foolproof mechanism has been adopted for the entire recruitment process due to which not even a single appointment out of these 36,524 have been challenged so far in the court, an official statement quoting Mann said.

These youths have been given government jobs completely on the basis of merit, he claimed, adding that the sole aim is to ensure that Punjab’s youth become active partners in the social and economic growth of the state.

By giving these jobs in the first 18 months of its tenure, the state government has set a record of providing government service to 2,000 youth every month, he said.

The chief minister exhorted the newly recruited youth to serve people with missionary zeal as now they have become an integral part of the government.

As runways at airports facilitate aeroplanes for its smooth take off, in the same manner, the state government is helping youth to realise their dreams, he said.

Every effort is being made to give wings to the ideas of youth and no stone is being left unturned for this, Mann said.

Slamming the previous governments, he said during the earlier tenures, these runways were merely used by affluent people to set up their own families.

Now these runways have been opened for the youth of common families by his government, he added.

During the previous regimes, people used to be scared of success as the earlier rulers used to pressurise them to put their share in ventures, he alleged.

These leaders looted the masses, especially the successful industrialists, alleged Mann.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)