Guwahati, Jan 28 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday distributed appointment letters to over 1,200 people who got jobs in various government departments.
Among the candidates were appointees on compassionate grounds who are family members of police personnel killed in action since 1988.
“Happy to distribute appointment letters to 1,208 selected candidates for Health & Family Welfare and Home & Political departments at Sankardev Kalakshetra, Guwahati. With 41,710 appointments so far, we are marching towards our goal of providing 1 lakh Govt jobs,” Sarma tweeted later.
Speaking at the programme, the chief minister said the government is working overtime to ensure jobs for families of every slain police personnel.
“Between 1996 to 2005, almost all the communities of the state had an armed outfit,” he said.
The biggest challenge was from the ULFA and Bodo groups, and many police personnel lost their lives in the line of duty.
Initially, their families would receive government jobs on compassionate grounds but the practice was later discontinued and an ex-gratia payment was paid to the next of kin, he said.
“We felt that jobs should be given to these martyrs’ families. Altogether 422 such personnel are there whose families are yet to get jobs. We are hopeful that by the next two months, we will be able to give appointments to all the families,” Sarma said as appointment letters to 72 such candidates were given at the function.
The chief minister also exhorted nurses under the Health and Family Welfare department, who got their appointment letters on the occasion, to serve with a smiling face and dedication.
“There is a need for the nurses to be mild-mannered and address the patients and their attendants with smile and understanding,” he said.
Sarma said the government will also provide soft skill training like teaching English and computer operation to nurses so that they can explore employment avenues outside the state also.
“There is a huge demand for trained nurses and we want to upgrade the skill of our girls so that they can find employment anywhere in the world,” he added.