Key Initiatives
Saksham Ghoshna
Between 2017 and 2019, public sector recruitment has increased significantly in Haryana with over 60,000 appointments. No government in the state in the last two decades has been able to link as many people to public sector jobs. This is a noteworthy achievement not just because of the numbers involved but also because of the transparency in the process and emphasis on merit-based selection. For a state that had been riddled with corruption and “sifarish”-based recruitment, this was a paradigm shift. The period also saw the largest one-time recruitment of over 18,000 people to Group D government jobs. In November 2018, more than 17 lakh people applied for these jobs and criss-crossed across the state to write the recruitment exam. New trains had to be brought into service to facilitate this sudden increase in intra-state travel.
Government Recruitment
Between 2017 and 2019, public sector recruitment has increased significantly in Haryana with over 60,000 appointments. No government in the state in the last two decades has been able to link as many people to public sector jobs. This is a noteworthy achievement not just because of the numbers involved but also because of the transparency in the process and emphasis on merit-based selection. For a state that had been riddled with corruption and “sifarish”-based recruitment, this was a paradigm shift. The period also saw the largest one-time recruitment of over 18,000 people to Group D government jobs. In November 2018, more than 17 lakh people applied for these jobs and criss-crossed across the state to write the recruitment exam. New trains had to be brought into service to facilitate this sudden increase in intra-state travel.
Partnering with Aggregators
To link youth to jobs, the Government of Haryana has entered into a unique collaborative partnership with cab aggregators, Ola and Uber. The essence of this partnership is that the government and private sector can collectively generate employment under a framework that ensures mutual benefit and no risk. In this case, the government wanted to increase employment while Ola and Uber were looking to expand the market for their services and hire more people. Within one year of the launch of the partnership, more than 55,000 youth in the state had been onboarded by both aggregators. At the same time, Ola and Uber have expanded their services in four districts of Haryana and are starting new services as well. But beyond the numbers, the partnership has also resulted in meaningful policy changes which have improved the ease of doing business for all operators in the market and not just Ola or Uber. Based on the success of this model, the Government has entered into similar partnerships with other aggregators such as Swiggy and Zomato.
Apprenticeships
The Apprenticeship Act legislated in 1961 by the Union Government is largely underutilized by states. The Act mandates the appointment of apprentices in all establishments (government and private) with more than 40 employees. Haryana became the first state to put together a holistic strategy for its implementation, becoming the state with most number of apprentices appointed per lakh population. Till date, this position rests with Haryana. When the Saksham Haryana programme began in 2017, the number of apprentices per lakh population was 87, currently it stands at over 270 and continues to rise.