Mohali: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday, 3 November, handed over appointment letters to 801 newly recruited youth at a ceremony in Mohali, in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district. The recruits have been appointed across various government departments — the official announcement did not itemise which departments — and the Chief Minister said the day's appointments take the total number of government jobs provided by his government to 71,777.

Source: National Times

The ceremony was organised by the Chief Minister's Office and brought together the recruits and their families, Nation Press reported, confirming the same figure of 801 letters and framing the event as a milestone under the Punjab government's Mission Rozgar employment programme, launched after the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in March 2022 to fill long-pending vacancies through merit-based recruitment.

Source: Nation Press

What the Chief Minister said

In a post on X sharing moments from the ceremony, Mann stated: 'Today, appointment letters were distributed to 801 newly recruited candidates in Mohali. So far, we have provided government jobs to more than 71,777 youth, entirely free of cost and strictly on the basis of merit.' He said every appointment had been made without 'cash' or 'farmaish' (recommendation) — a claim he makes for his government's recruitment — and described the letters as 'not merely pieces of paper but symbols of hope, dignity and a secure future for thousands of families'. He also framed the appointments as a Diwali gift to the youth; Diwali falls on 8 November this year.

801Appointment letters handed over in Mohali on Tuesday, 3 November
71,777Total government jobs the Mann government says it has now provided
600More appointments the Chief Minister announced for next week
~600Additional ancillary positions he said have been created in PSPCL

Mann announced that another 600 youth would receive government jobs next week, and said around 600 additional recruitment opportunities had already been created in ancillary positions in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), further strengthening employment opportunities for the youth.

Challenge to the opposition, and his other claims

Addressing the gathering, Mann challenged the opposition to point out even one instance of corruption in recruitment, and attacked the Akali Dal and the Congress, alleging — in his words — that previous governments had sold government jobs for lakhs of rupees through money, recommendations and bribes ('vaddhi'), and that Akali leaders had captured lucrative businesses including mining during their tenure. These are the Chief Minister's political allegations against rival parties, reported here as his statements; the opposition parties' response to Tuesday's remarks had not been reported at the time of publication. He further claimed that Punjab today ranks number one in the country in primary education — again, his government's claim — and urged the newly appointed employees to prepare for the UPSC examinations and aspire to become IAS and IPS officers.

On irrigation, Mann said nearly 18,000 cusecs of water was now reaching agricultural fields through the strengthened canal network — which he compared to the capacity of an entire Bhakra canal — and that this had helped improve groundwater levels by one to five metres in several areas. These figures, too, are as stated by the Chief Minister at the event.

What happens next: on the Chief Minister's own announcement, the next batch of about 600 appointments is due next week. Which departments Tuesday's 801 recruits have joined was not specified in the official announcement, and no department-wise break-up of the 71,777 total was given at the ceremony.