Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced recruitment of 10 lakh people in government jobs during the next 18 months.

“PM @narendramodi reviewed the status of Human Resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the government in mission mode in the next 1.5 years,” a tweet by Prime Minister Office said. This statement has come at a time when the government is facing strong criticism on lack of employment as against the poll promise.

A senior government official explained that the number of 10 lakh will include jobs in Central Ministries, Departments and Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSEs) “It will comprise of both contractual and regular jobs besides recruitment under Agneepath scheme for armed forces,” he said while adding that the fiscal implication is yet to be ascertained.

Reacting to the announcement, the Labour Minister Bhupendra Yadav said, “India’s journey as a strong economy under the Prime Minister has made sure we stay the course on human-centered development. The hiring of 10 lakh people will not only help the government meet targets, but also strengthen the march towards a fully Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Taking forward PM@narendramodi ji’s decision to recruit 10 lakh people in all govt. departments and ministries in mission-mode, @EduMinOfIndia and @MSDESkillIndia is committed to fill-up all vacancies in their respective departments in the next 1.5 years.”

According to the Annual Report on Pay and Allowances of Central Government Civilian Employees (2019-20), prepared by Expenditure Department, the number of regular central government civilian employees (including UTs) as on March 1, 2020 was 31.91 lakh as against the sanctioned strength of 40.78 lakh, showing 21.75 per cent vacancies.

Meanwhile, budget documents showed, jobs in all central government ministries and departments are estimated to go up by over 2.84 lakh by the end of March 2022 compared to 2020. However, the biggest job provider, the Railways, has seen a dip of over 50,000 during this period.

Calling it a “great course correction”, Vidur Gupta, Director, Spectrum Talent Management told BusinessLine that the unemployment rate in urban India slipped to 8.7 per cent in October-December 2021. “The mission mode to add more jobs will help bridge gaps in the employment scenario which was highly impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown.”

According to Smiti Bhatt Deorah, Co-Founder & COO, Advantage Club, a global employee engagement platform, India is growing rapidly and filling the open positions in the government offices is a key step towards boosting the economy and bring-in more liquidity. “Would strongly recommend the Government to modernise the employee’s job experience right from hiring to retiring. This will help the Government attract more talent and make time spent by employees at work more convenient and engaging,” he said adding that:”In today’s time, the best talent is looking beyond just stability which is something we all associate with the Government jobs.”

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