Opposition BJP stages walkout from HP Assembly over unemployment issue

Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh: The Opposition BJP staged a walkout from the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Friday over the unemployment issue and accused the government of not fulfilling the promise of giving one lakh jobs.

Leader of the Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, pressed for admitting the adjournment motion under Rule 67 for a discussion on unemployment as soon as the House assembled for the day.

Displaying degrees, BJP MLAs led by Thakur raised anti-government slogans in the Assembly campus before the session started.

Thakur said that the government had closed all doors of employment, and the unemployed youth were running from pillar to post.

He said that the ruling Congress had promised to give one lakh jobs at the first Cabinet meeting, but it did not fulfil the promise.

The BJP MLAs alleged that the Congress government is cheating 10 lakh unemployed youths of the state.

On the fourth day of the Winter Session, the BJP legislators said that giving jobs to five lakh youths was one of the main guarantees of the Congress made on the eve of the last Assembly polls. They tore and burnt degrees (not original) as a symbolic protest.

"The situation has become so bad that today, the frustrated unemployed youths are thinking of burning their degrees and we have given a symbolic expression to their pain," Thakur said.

Rather than providing jobs, the state government terminated the services of about 10,000 outsourced employees. including 2,000 in the health sector who rendered their service during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Escalating his attack on the government, Thakur said the Congress did not even pay the 2,000 outsourced employees' wages for eight to nine months.

The Leader of Opposition also objected to Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan's remarks that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was doing 'drama' in the name of unemployment and asked whether raising this issue in public interest was a drama.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said that he was ready to allow a discussion on the adjournment motion on Saturday and even allow discussion under Rule 130 (motion to discuss policy, statement or any other matter).

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu tried to reply to the issues raised by Thakur, but the opposition members opposed it and said that he should reply only to the discussion.

As the Chief Minister continued with his reply, the BJP members began raising slogans and later staged a walkout.

Targeting the BJP after the walkout, Sukhu said either the papers were leaked during the regime of the saffron party, or the appointments made were pending in the court.

The Subordinate Staff Selection Commission became a den of corruption, and the papers were sold for lakhs of rupees, he alleged.

The Chief Minister said that the BJP government gave employment to only 20,000 youth in five years while the Congress dispensation was recruiting 6,500 people in the education department, 974 patwaris, 1400 staff nurses, 1248 constables, 344 drivers, 300 conductors and 974 van mitras.

Accusing the BJP of trying to suppress his voice, Sukhu said that the walkout and demonstration by the BJP members was a reflection of their frustration.

Amidst uproarious scenes, the industries minister said that the Congress government has started the process of filling 20,000 posts, but the BJP wants continuation of the practice of selling the jobs.

Chauhan said that the Congress government scrapped the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission, which had become a den of corruption and replaced it with the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Chayan Aayog (HPRCA).

Talking to the media after the walkout, Thakur said that the BJP MLAs Randhir Sharma, Vipin Parmar and Satpal Singh Satti had given notice for discussion on unemployment as the state government has terminated the outsourced employees rather than giving jobs.

Asserting that the youth is tensed and frustrated, he said that Chauhan termed the BJP's concern for the youth as drama and added if raising the voice of the youth in and outside the Vidhan Sabha is a drama then his party would continue doing it as getting jobs for the youth is our priority.

The Congress government should apologise to the youth for making false promises, he said.