Amritsar: Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday used a state-level gathering in Amritsar for the appearance day (Parkash Purab) of Maharishi Bhagwan Valmiki to repeat his government's signature employment claim: that the Punjab government has provided government jobs to more than 70,000 young people through a transparent process.

Mann said every appointment letter issued during his tenure was allocated strictly on merit, eliminating political recommendations and bribe demands — that is the Chief Minister's own characterisation of his government's recruitment, stated here as his claim. He framed transparent recruitment as a core administrative priority and, in the reports' account, linked public employment for young people with service to the marginalised communities associated with Maharishi Valmiki's legacy.

Two qualifications matter for readers. First, the figure is not new: Mann cited the same total of more than 70,000 government jobs on Sunday, 25 October, while addressing a youth festival at Dhuri in Sangrur district, where he used the formulation "No Cash, No Farmaish" (no cash, no recommendations). Tuesday's address repeats the standing government claim at a new event; it does not add a fresh count. Second, neither report of Tuesday's address includes a department-wise or recruitment-wise break-up of the 70,000 figure, and the total has not been independently audited in either report. Awaaz Punjab therefore reports the number as the government's claim, not as a verified total.

The choice of stage also carries political weight ahead of the 2027 assembly election: Valmiki Jayanti is a major occasion for Punjab's Valmiki community, a prominent Scheduled Caste constituency, and a state-level celebration in Amritsar places the government's jobs pitch directly before that audience. No opposition response to Tuesday's address was reported in either source at the time of drafting.