CM Siddaramaiah promises to speed up recruitments; blames BJP govt for vacancies

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah assured the protesting government job aspirants in Dharwad that the process of filing vacancies is in progress and it will be further accelerated in a “transparent, systematic and time-bound” manner. 

“I take serious note of the ongoing protests by the government job aspirants in Dharwad. As chief minister, I want every student to know that your concerns are heard, and your future matters deeply to us,” Siddaramaiah said in a press release.

There are around 2.84 lakh vacancies in government offices. If the number of jobs in the state-run boards and corporations is included, this number crosses 4 lakh.

He said there were 2.64 lakh vacant posts when the Congress came to power in 2023 and blamed the previous BJP government’s “prolonged inaction” for it.

Slamming the BJP leaders for “misleading” the students, he said: “The present situation is largely a consequence of the series of recruitment irregularities and corruption scandals between 2019 and 2023, which eroded trust in the system and resulted in a massive backlog of vacancies.” 

Stating that over 40,000 recruitments have been made since the Congress came to power, the chief minister also noted that the government had relaxed the recruitment age criteria by over five years.

Speaking about the same issue, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said: “Why didn’t they do (fill the vacancies)? We are doing. Since there are difficulties in finding jobs, we are providing Rs 3,000. There were issues with 371(J) and internal reservation. But we are doing.”

‘Start recruitment now’

State BJP president BY Vijayendra (BYV) accused Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar of “playing with the lives of the youth.”

“The Congress government has not been able to fill even a single post. The chief minister, deputy chief minister, and cabinet members are delivering speeches across the state, but they have failed to deliver justice to the youth,” he charged. 

He demanded that the recruitment process for vacant posts must start immediately and that the KPSC system should be reformed.

Slamming the government’s “prolonged neglect,” Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister HD Kumaraswamy said on X (formerly Twitter): “The government must act with urgency, step down from the third floor of Vidhana Soudha and listen to the voice of the youth.”