Chandigarh, Sep 27 (IANS): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab on Friday claimed that the Bhagwant Mann government has given over 45,000 government positions to the youth in the past two and a half years, without any bribery or recommendations.

Speaking to the media here, party MP Malvinder Singh Kang highlighted that under previous governments, individuals often had to pay lakhs of rupees in bribes for government jobs, with many positions going to the families and relatives of politicians.

As a result of lack of employment opportunities, many young people felt compelled to seek work abroad.

Indicating that the Mann government has abolished the tradition of bribery and political favoritism in government job allocations, Kang said: “Our administration has provided government jobs to 45,708 youth based on merit, without any bribery or political recommendations.”

Kang detailed the job statistics, noting that the government has made hundreds of appointments across various departments, including 4,870 in the Local Body Department, 4,953 in the Electricity Department, 692 in the Agriculture Department, 700 in the Animal Husbandry Department, 1,234 in the Cooperative Department, 1,369 in the Health Department, 909 in the Jail Department, 564 in the Public Works Department, 2,220 in Revenue and 1,779 in the Water Resources Department.

On September 24, Chief Minister Mann distributed 586 appointment letters for the Health Department.

Kang said that even during the Lok Sabha elections, people praised the efforts, particularly for providing government jobs that benefited many families. He emphasised that delivering quality education and employment to youth is the AAP government's top priority, and “we are pleased that our Chief Minister is consistently working to achieve this goal.”

Chief Minister Mann, while listing out achievements of the AAP government, promised to accelerate the state's progress to turn it into 'Rangla Punjab'.