DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday said that Haryana natives should have the first right to jobs in the state. "If all other states give priority to locals in their jobs, why doesn't the BJP government in Haryana do the same," the former chief minister asked.

In a statement issued here, Hooda claimed the youth of the state need jobs the most, as "Haryana is the number one state in the country when it comes to unemployment".

"The ruling BJP is moving ahead with a policy of completely depriving Haryana's youth of jobs, which is why rules are being deliberately framed for government recruitments to benefit the youth from other states," Hooda alleged.

"The recent recruitment of assistant engineers in the irrigation department is a clear example of this. Surprisingly, 28 people from other states were given jobs on 42 posts in the general category. It is highly condemnable, as 70 per cent of Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) jobs are given to non-Haryana residents," he claimed.

Hooda also said this "injustice" had earlier been done with the local youth in many recruitment drives ? from sub-divisional officers, block development and panchayat officials to lecturers. "Haryana's GK (general knowledge) has been eliminated from the syllabus for assistant environmental engineer recruitment by the HPSC. Not only this, the HPSC has also given permission to those candidates who do not have a Haryana domicile to apply for the Haryana Civil Services (HCS) exam," the Congress leader alleged. In the technical education department, candidates from outside the state were selected for 106 out of 153 posts of professors in the general category, Hooda claimed in the statement. "For ayurvedic medical officer recruitment, a list of 394 out of 427 posts in the general category was released. But 75 per cent of the selected candidates were from outside? Earlier, 35 to 40 per cent outside candidates were selected in HCS recruitment," he stated.

Hooda also claimed that all the states, especially those ruled by the BJP, are making strict rules to give preference to local people in jobs, increasing questions on general knowledge related to the state, and making it compulsory to know the local language in recruitment papers.

"In Haryana, however, general knowledge questions have almost been eliminated from the recruitment papers," he alleged.

(editor@dailyworld.in)