The BJP felt short of its promises of creating jobs and cleaning up corruption in the rural state
Teachers in Assam wearing traditional Assamese dress. Image via Flickr by Michael Foley. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
The government of India's Assam state, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is facing public criticism online after it announced it will create 55,000 public jobs in the next six months.
While unemployment has long been a vital concern in rural Assam, past scandals in public recruitment have driven citizens to doubt authorities will fulfil that promise, while others wonder whether the measure isn't just a gimmick ahead of the state assembly's elections due on April 2021.
The decision on the 55,000 jobs was announced on Twitter by the former General Secretary of the Assam Pradesh branch of the BJP, Mriganka Barman:
In a step towards empowering the youths of Assam the Hon'ble CM Shri @sarbanandsonwal had already generated 38,000 permanent and 35,000 temporary jobs in various departments, and is also planning to provide 55,000 jobs to the youths within the current financial year 2020-21. pic.twitter.com/gnjbzB4m5S
— Mriganka Barman (@mrigankabjp) July 9, 2020
The BJP came to power in 2016 in Assam on promises of creating jobs after 15 years of Indian National Congress (INC) rule failed to make progress on that front on that state.
Four years later, the BJP is facing shortcomings of its own, especially in regards to its commitment to expanding public service capacity.
For example, in January, the government announced it would recruit over 15,000 teachers across the state over the course of six months. By the end of August, the government had only appointed 5,000.
The worst disappointment with the BJP is probably related to recruitment to the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC). Jobs in this government body are considered very prestigious in Assam; hundreds of thousands of students prepare for its regular selection exams.
However, recruitment for the ASPC has long suffered from a lack of transparency and allegations of corruption. Its former chairman, Rakesh Paul, was arrested in 2016 after a court found he received bribes from certain candidates in exchange for providing them with separate rooms during the examination.
Paul was close to former Assam's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Although no legal action was taken against Gogoi, the widely-publicized scandal tarnished the image of the INC in the state.
In the 2016 elections, the BJP promised to clean up the ASPC from dishonest officers, but it wasn't long until it also faced accusations of corruption.
For example, when recruiting new staff for the Panchyat and Rural Development in 2017, the BJP faced public criticism after answers were leaked on social media before exam day and candidates were caught using mobile phones in the exam hall. While Assam police opened an investigation into the irregularities, appointments were made anyway.
Twitter user from Assam Tulesh Doley urged to the Prime Minister:
@PMOIndia What happen to your governments zero tolerance against corruption……plz do come and see what happened in Assam….#PNRD scam…….
We need investigation……— tulesh doley (@f7c232bfca81403) March 7, 2019
Local media also reported on the leaking of exam papers before a recruitment exam by Assam Power Distribution Company Limited took place in 2019. Police are investigating the incident.
Also in 2019, the Assam government promised to appoint more 1,600 posts in the newly-established Foreigners Tribunals, courts where suspected foreigner citizens are summoned to prove their Indian citizenship. Exams were held and a list of qualified candidates was released, but the government hasn't appointed them yet.
General Secretary of All Assam Students’ Union Assam Lurinjyoti Gogoi tweeted:
#Release_FT_Appointment The reluctance of the #AssamGovt to issue #AppointmentLetters to the selected Foreigner's Tribunal members once again proves their insincerity towards solving the illegal foreginers issue and their blatant disregard for Supreme Court directives. 1/2
— Lurinjyoti Gogoi (@lurinjtgogoi) August 24, 2020
The announcement of the 55,000 jobs was met on criticism online. The National Student's Association of India (Assam branch) tweeted:
◆ One Nation
◆ One Man
◆ Crores UnemployedToday's youngsters are awake
about there jobs.Instead of wasting time on
unnecessary things.Goverment
should provide employment.#राष्ट्रीय_बेरोजगारी_दिवस#NationalUnemploymentDay pic.twitter.com/ZBvjNvitPh— Assam University NSUI (@AssamNsui) September 17, 2020
Gargee Kashyap from the city of Guwahati tweeted:
Unemployment at it's peak and what is more worring is that those exams that were held, Results still not declared like APDCL, APSC mains 2018 When will the concerned authorities will actually do something about it? #SpeakUpForJobs #ReleaseAPSCMain2018Results
— Gargee Kashyap (@KashyapGargee) September 10, 2020
Twitter user Jan Kishore Gogoi from the city of Sivsagar said:
This is now become a trend, date after date in court is the new normal…Why does it take more than a year to release the Apsc Mains results, the whole process which needs to be completed in a year takes more than 3 years,This is not acceptable.#ReleaseAPSCMain2018results https://t.co/el4iK2QZkp
— Jan Kishore Gogoi (@Jaandestiny) September 15, 2020
Twitter user Kishan Nath also joined in:
@CMOfficeAssam @apdclsocial Enquiry committee's time has also expired on 10th of September. Now publish apdcl fresher result.#publiah_APDCL_RESULT #Publish_APDCL_RESULT #Publish_APDCL_RESULT #Publish_APDCL_RESULT #Publish_APDCL_RESULT #Publish_APDCL_RESULT pic.twitter.com/T8nNId6NJO
— Kishan Nath (@KishanN9706) September 13, 2020
Someone who says has sat the exam to the Foreigner Tribunals’ said:
Please release our 1600 Foreigners Tribunal appointment letter. Our govt only give education & helth department appointment letter. But we feel we are not in the assam? We wait last 12 months. Please see all department. #FT_Appointment_Assam https://t.co/mtfcsAdWNA
— Sewali chakravorty (@Sewalichakravo2) September 16, 2020
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