Special job fairs will encourage women empowerment in the state: Manpreet Singh Badal

· Ensuring Rewarding and respectful jobs for youth is the real development
· Reiterated commitment of providing jobs to 25 lakh in next 25 years
· Road map ready to make state Revenue Surplus after 33 years
· Bats for bringing Patrol, Power and Stamp duty under GST
· OTS will revive industry in the state
· Assures that Anganwari Employees will not lose their job

Ludhiana, November 3, 2017: Finance Minister Punjab Mr.Manpreet Singh Badal today described the special job fairs to provide employment to women as a concrete step essential for encouraging women empowerment in the state. The Finance Minister also stated that the development of infrastructure is meaningless unless the youth of the state is getting the rewarding jobs.

In his brief address during Job Fair organised here at District Industrial Centre to provide employment to women, Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal said that ensuring financial independence is must for women empowerment. He said that his visit to this job fair was his duty rather than a formality. He further added that the Punjab Government under its Ghar Ghar Rozgar programme has been committed to provide job opportunities to 25 lakh youth in next five years that includes wage employment and self employment.

Sharing his ideas regarding development with the candidates participating in the Job Fair, the Finance Minister said that it was wrong to equate development with the development of infrastructures like road and streets only. He said that it was our bad luck that most of us concentrated on infrastructure only whereas ensuring rewarding and respectful jobs for our youth is the real development.

“I think the day we achieve our targets of increasing income of our household by providing job to unemployed youth, we will need not to advertise our achievement. The kitchen of every household would reflect its prosperity in specific and that of our state in general”, said Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal.

Giving a clarion call to the Industrialists to join hands with Ghar Ghar Rozgar Mission to accelerate Punjab’s development, Mr. Manpreet Badal said that employers can contribute as a driving force for the employment growth.

Replying to media queries on this occasion, Finance Minister said that state government has prepared the road map to convert Punjab from a fiscal deficit state to revenue Surplus state. "Punjab has adopted a fiscal plan to restore the fiscal health of the state after 33 years. We have taken immediate measures to ensure efficient use of resources by minimising waste and improving accountability to make state revenue surplus by 2020", said the Finance Minister.

Batting for bringing patrol, power and stamp duty under GST while replying to another media query, Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal said that this issue would be raised during the next finance ministers meeting to be held at Guhati on November 10. Replying query regarding GST and demonetisation by NDA government, Finance Minister said that Union Government has committed major blunders in both cases. He further added that the NDA government brought a complex GST system which was entirely different from the one that was planned by Congress. He said that demonetisation was another economic blunder as one cannot describe the cash economy as black economy.

On the issue of problems being faced by the sick industrial units of the state, Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal informed that Punjab government has introduced one-time settlement (OTS) policy with a view to bring the blocked industrial investment into productive use and to revive the state industry. He said that this policy would provide the much-needed relief to those industrial units that raised loans from the state-level financial institutions as they can avail benefit of paying back only principal amount under this policy. He said that the Government has also layout a plan to facelift the Industrial Focal points besides adopting other needed measures to provide best facilities to the industry.

Replying to a query regarding Anganwari Workers, Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal said that the schooling system around the globe has adopted the system of starting education of child from the age of 3 year and questioned that whether Punjab afford to be an exception in this case. He further assured that none of the Aganwari employees would lose her job.

It is pertinent to mention it here that Punjab Government has launched a special employment drive as part of its `Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ scheme. On September 5, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had personally handed over appointment letters to 25 youth at the culmination of the Mega Job Fair at an Employers' Meet in Mohali. The fair saw the presentation of a total of 27,000 appointment letters, including 3,000 for government posts, to young men and women. The Employment Generation department, in collaboration with the Industries department, also organized four job fairs at Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar on October 11, 2017, offering a total of 10,207 jobs to the unemployed youth till October 30, 2017.

Prominent amongst others MLAs from the city including Mr. Surinder Dawar, Mr. Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Mr. Kuldeep Singh Vaid and Mr. Sanjeev Talwar, Mr. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Director Information and Public Relations, Mr. DPS Kharbanda, Director Industries, Mr. Pardeep Kumar Agrawal, Deputy Commissioner Ludhiana were also present on this occasion along with industrialist from the city including Mr. Vinod Thapar, President Knitwear & Textile Association, Mr. Upkar Singh Ahuja and Mr. Charanjit Singh.