Bihar polls: Tejashwi Yadav promises 10 lakh jobs if RJD voted to power

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has decided to make unemployment one of the main poll planks for the Bihar Assembly elections and has promised 10 lakh jobs if he becomes the chief minister.   

If the RJD wins the Assembly elections to be held in three phases between October 28 and November 7, then his first decision as chief minister would be to provide 10 lakh jobs, Yadav, who is the party’s chief ministerial candidate, said. This was among the 10 poll promises he has made in response to the Saath Nischay (seven resolves) Part 2 of JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar that was announced on Friday.     

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“If the RJD forms the government, then in the very first cabinet meeting, my first signature will be on a decision to provide 10 lakh jobs. The jobs will be permanent and in the government,” Yadav said addressing a press conference.

Yadav said there are “lakhs of vacancies” in the health, education and police departments. Bihar is a state with a population of 12.5 crore, he said. The state, therefore,  needs 1.25 lakh doctors and other support staff to maintain the national average. Similarly, there is a requirement of 2.5 lakh employees in the health department and 50,000 in the police.

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He said he was not making any empty promise. The announcement was made after consulting experts and the promise can be achieved. The party will soon come out with a road map to achieve this goal, he said.

Nitish Kumar, too, had focused on employment in his Saath Nischay part 2, saying he will form a separate department that will focus on developing the skills of youths to make them employment-ready. If it is voted back to power, his party will provide an assistance of Rs 10 lakh for women to start their own ventures, he said.