Why only Govt jobs?

Himanta Biswa Sarma's BJP-led government has been harping from day one that it will create one lakh jobs for the unemployed in its first year. Accordingly, Finance Minister Ajanta Neog, in her budget speech has given a break-up of the one lakh-plus jobs which the government has already identified. These include both existing vacancies as well as the creation of new posts in different government departments. Going through the list provided by the Finance Minister, it is seen that the Education department and Home & Political and Police departments together account for more than half of these posts to be filled up. While the Education department has 28,162 vacancies, the Home & Political department and Police together have 28,096 jobs (these include 10,000 vacancies which will arise in 10 new Assam Police bHimanta Biswa Sarma's BJP-led government has been harping from day one that it will create one lakh jobs for the unemployed in its first year. Accordingly, Finance Minister Ajanta Neog, in her budget speech has given a break-up of the one lakh-plus jobs which the government has already identified. These include both existing vacancies as well as the creation of new posts in different government departments. Going through the list provided by the Finance Minister, it is seen that thttalions). Three other departments which have a large number of existing vacancies and newly-created vacancies are Health & Family Welfare (9,353), Animal Husbandry & Veterinary (7,118) and Power (5,769). Some other departments which will take in a substantial number of new employees include Panchayat & Rural Development (2137), PWD (1963), Environment & Forest (1397) and Transformation & Development (1240). People must get secured employment. But it is also a fact that more government jobs only adds to the government's expenditure without much revenue in return. That the government's salary burden has been increasing every year is in itself proof of this. Given this reality, Finance Minister Ajanta Neog has done well to highlight that the government has also laid stress on creating self-employment and other livelihood opportunities in various sectors. One such ambitious step is to impart quality training to approximately 1.23 lakh women weavers to upgrade their skills in the first phase. Additionally, the Finance Minister has also announced that the handloom sector and tourism will be encouraged, which in turn will lead to the creation of avenues in an additional line of business. Likewise, it is also encouraging to see that the Finance Minister has set out plans aimed at making the state's farmers self-sufficient. With this in view, she has also proposed to set up an Agriculture Commission to focus on issues related to agriculture, animal husbandry and the dairy sector. The Commission will study and suggest measures for achieving self-sufficiency in agriculture production, milk, egg and pork production, and identify constraints and devise a roadmap to achieve the goal in five years. What however seems to be missing is the issue of generating employment in the private sector. A healthy private sector is very important for the state's economy. While several private companies, including several multinationals, have their presence in the state, the government should set targets for these private sector industries for the creation of employment opportunities, both direct and indirect.