Senior Congress leaders today backed thedecision of the Council of Ministers to give government jobs to the sons ofFatehjung Singh Bajwa and Rakesh Pandey, sitting legislators of the Congressparty and lashed out at the critics for failing to appreciate the state policythat has been in force for many years now.
In a joint statement issued by some of theMinisters of the State Government namely Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Sadhu SinghDharamsot, Vijay Inder Singla, Aruna Chaudhary, Sunder Sham Arora, GurpreetSingh Kangar, Balbir Singh Sidhu, OP Soni, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and the Membersof Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Jasbir Singh Dimpa andMohammad Sadiq, the collective decision of the Cabinet to give government jobsto sons of sitting MLAs was termed correct and in line with appointments givento similarly situated persons in the past. Sh. Lal Singh, Chairman, PunjabMandi Board also came out strongly in support of the decision of Cabinet andadvised all political leaders of the Congress to refrain from making anystatement that could potentially weaken the party.
The leaders emphasized that the CongressGovernment has accorded top priority to Ghar Ghar Rozgar Te Karobar Mission,which has already facilitated employment for about 17.60 lakh youth out ofwhich 62,743 persons have been provided Government jobs, 9.97 lakh persons havebeen assisted in Self-employment and 7,01,804 Private Sector Jobs have beenfacilitated. The government has already initiated the process for filling up anadditional 1 lakh government jobs. This process shall continue unabated and thegovernment shall leave no stone unturned in assisting every unemployed youth inthe state.
It was also pointed out that the State of Punjabhad always been a welfare state and it has been giving jobs to various classesof persons keeping in view the hardship faced by them as a result of unforeseenand tragic circumstances. Apart from Terrorist Affected Families, jobs and/orfinancial assistance has been given to handicapped persons, rape victims andthe families of 1984 riot victims, Defence Personnel killed in action andGovernment Employees who die in harness to name a few.
Giving details of appointments given in the pastto families of terrorist affected victims, it was pointed out that there are atpresent at least five such officers in the IAS cadre of Punjab who hadoriginally been appointed to the Punjab Civil Service (Executive) on thesegrounds. They further quoted the singular case of the Department of Excise andTaxation where 108 jobs, including two ETOs, have been given to the victims onthese grounds. Similarly 6 terrorist victims had been appointed as NaibTehsildar and many other victims have been given significant appointments (DSP,Inspector, etc) in other Departments and continue to serve on very seniorpositions in the State. Petrol Pumps, Ration Depots and other self employmentavenues have been provided on priority to such families. The victims of the1984 Sikh riots have also been given similar benefits in addition to financialaid, they said.
Furthermore, in the last four years 72 next ofkin of Shaheed Defence and Para Military personnel have been given jobs,including PCS (Executive) Allied services like Tehsildar, ETO, AssistantRegistrar Cooperative Societies, etc. Another 10 persons are being called forinterviews shortly while 9 families have reserved the jobs for their minorchildren. Financial Assistance of Rs 50 Lakhs is also being given as a mark ofrespect and gratitude to these families.
Even in the recent farmers agitation against theCentral Farm Laws, the State Government has assured a job to each of thefamilies of the farmers who have died during the agitation, and the process ofproviding these is already underway. Financial assistance is also beingextended to all such families.
The leaders emphatically stated that when othersimilarly placed persons were being regularly given benefits under the StatePolicy it would be unfair to discriminate against the children of MLAs simplybecause their fathers are currently holding such positions.
Even in the pastthe government has not discriminated on the basis of social standing oreconomic well-being of families while extending such benefits. The peoplecritical of the move have lost sight of the fact that a job of DSP was given tothe grandson of Sardar Beant Singh, former Chief Minister, who was assassinatedby terrorists. A job of Naib Tehsildar was similarly given to the wife of LateMLA Baldev Singh. Citing additional examples, they said that pursuant to theassassination of A.S. Atwal, DIG, his wife was appointed to the PCS (Executive)and subsequently even his son was given a job of Inspector in the PunjabPolice.
In the present case, Fatehjung Singh Bajwa was a minor when the tragicincident occurred, in which he lost his father, while Rakesh Pandey wasincapacitated by an accident which did not allow him to take up employmentunder the State government. As a result it is perfectly justified that theirchildren should be offered these jobs.
It may be recalled that the Chief Minister hadalso defended the decision of the Cabinet by observing that one cannot allowsuch sacrifices to go waste while reiterating that the Punjab Government willcontinue to recognise each such contribution to the state’s peace and harmony.