Hyderabad: A day after IT minister K.T. Rama Rao engaged with job aspirants in a bid to assuage their concerns and win over the vote bank, which accounts for 30 per cent of the total electorate, the Congress and the BJP have also stepped up their outreach by highlighting promises made for them.
There are 3.14 crore voters in Telangana, of whom the number of voters in the 18-19-year age group is 7 lakh and in the 19-35 age group is 75 lakh.
The Congress came up with a Youth Declaration to attract students, youths and unemployed, by promising to fill 2 lakh government posts within a year of coming to power. It promised a transparent recruitment process, reconstitution of TSPSC with eminent people to check irregularities in recruitments and exams, annual job calendar and monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 4,000.
The Congress also promised to transform Telangana into a ‘zero unemployment’ state through a centralised online registration portal, creating employment exchanges in seven-plus zones and establishing skill development centres in each district.
It promised 75 per cent reservations to Telangana youths in private companies established with the help of government incentives, and the constitution of a youth commission to provide interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to facilitate education and livelihood opportunities.
The declaration also promised fee reimbursement for students from SCs, STs, BCs, minorities and EWS categories, along with clearance of dues. Four new IIITs, on the lines of RGUKT's IIIT-Basar, were also promised.
In its Six Guarantees, the Congress promised ‘Yuva Vikasam’ through a '5-lakh ‘Vidya Bharosa Card’ that students could use to make fee payments and foot other related expenses.
The BJP, in its manifesto, went with the catchphrases ‘Yuva Shakti’ and ‘Vidya Shri’ to woo younger voters, by promising to complete TSPSC recruitments on the lines of the UPSC, filling government jobs, including EWS quota, within six months, setting up nodal schools in every mandal, improving facilities in social welfare residential schools and monitoring fee structure in private schools.
The BRS, which did not mention the youth in its manifesto, is trying to address this deficiency by directly reaching out to students, youths and the unemployed.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday held a meeting in the city with a few government job aspirants based in Ashoknagar. Rama Rao promised to announce an annual job calendar and speed up all the pending recruitment exams. He also promised reforms in TSPSC, as demanded by them.
