Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said today that the Punjab government should give a clear answer to the people on the issue of employment. He said the Aam Aadmi Party had promised to provide jobs to two million youth in Punjab and should therefore issue a white paper stating how many young people had actually been provided employment during its five-year tenure.
He said providing jobs to young people was not merely an electoral promise but an issue directly linked to their future and the economic security of their families. The Chief Minister was addressing party workers during his visit to Amritsar.
Saini said the Congress had also promised employment in every household in Punjab, while the Aam Aadmi Party had made similar commitments to the people. The question before the public today, he said, was what the actual outcome of these promises had been. He demanded that the Punjab government make its employment figures public.
Saini said that during the nearly 18 months of the present Haryana government, around 45,000 young people had been given government jobs without “parchi” or “kharchi”—without political recommendation or payment. He said the government had given priority to transparency in recruitment and ensured that young people got opportunities to progress on the basis of merit.
He said the recruitment process for around 5,600 posts in the Haryana Police was currently under way, while recruitment and interviews for around 8,500 other departmental posts were also in progress. The government, he said, wanted to ensure that young people did not have to approach politicians or middlemen to secure employment.
The Chief Minister also targeted the AAP government in Punjab over alleged irregularities that had emerged in the result of the recruitment of excise inspectors. He said transparency in recruitment and the trust of young people were of paramount importance, but alleged that the Punjab government had eroded that trust.
Saini said the Haryana government was working towards fulfilling the 270 commitments made during the Assembly elections. He said Rs. 5,000 crore had been allocated for women in the first budget of the government’s tenure, while more than Rs. 2,000 crore had been transferred directly into women’s bank accounts.
The Chief Minister said the Haryana government had also taken steps to provide relief to economically weaker families. Under the Ayushman-Chirayu scheme, lakhs of people had benefited, he said. The government had also made arrangements to provide LPG cylinders at ₹500 to women from low-income families.
Saini said the system for procuring farmers’ crops at minimum support prices had been strengthened in Haryana. The government’s aim, he said, was to ensure that farmers received a fair price for their produce and did not face difficulties in selling their crops.
Punjab, Haryana Growth Rates
Comparing the economies of Haryana and Punjab, Saini said Haryana’s real economic growth rate was projected at 9.5 per cent in 2025-26, compared with 6.1 per cent for Punjab. This represented a difference of 3.4 percentage points between the two states.
He said Haryana’s economy was projected to reach approximately Rs. 15.18 lakh crore in 2026-27, while Punjab’s economy was estimated at around Rs. 9.81 lakh crore. The difference in the economic size of the two states, he said, was approximately Rs. 5.38 lakh crore. According to Saini, this gap reflected differences in policies, leadership and accountability.
Share in GDP
Saini said Haryana’s share in India’s GDP was approximately 3.6 per cent in 2023-24, compared with around 2.4 per cent for Punjab. During the same period, Haryana’s per capita income was estimated at 176.8 per cent of the national average, while Punjab’s stood at 106.7 per cent.
He said Punjab’s per capita income had once been nearly twice the national average. The question before Punjab today, he said, was why the state had failed to maintain the expected pace of economic growth despite its agricultural, industrial and commercial potential and the capabilities of its youth.
The Chief Minister said strengthening Punjab’s economy required timely facilities for farmers, fair returns for their produce and new opportunities in agriculture. He said a reliable system for trade and industry, dignity for small shopkeepers and protection for entrepreneurs’ investments were equally important.
“Today, the situation in Punjab is such that employment opportunities are moving out of the state, and the Aam Aadmi Party government here is working to destroy employment,” he alleged.
Drug Abuse in Punjab
Saini also expressed concern over the growing drug problem in Punjab. He said both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party had failed to curb drug abuse in the state.
Describing the drug problem as a serious issue, Saini said the real measure of action against drugs was how much their availability had declined, how many young people affected by addiction had been rehabilitated and how many families had received relief.
Referring to the Haryana government’s efforts to prevent drug abuse, he said the state was providing young people with better sports facilities. Marathons were also being organised every month, attracting around one lakh young participants.
He said Haryana’s sportspersons were bringing laurels to the state by winning medals at the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games and various other international competitions.
