- Leader of the Congress legislative party Amit Chavda extends his party’s support to the BJP government resolution saying all the prime ministers, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Modi, should be remembered
- Three central PSUs in Gujarat not following 85 pc local hiring rule
NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, SEPT 15
Day after hailing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding the G20 Summit successfully, the Gujarat legislative assembly on Friday unanimously passed a resolution congratulating Modi and scientists, other technical staff of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the success of Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 missions.
The resolution was brought by Minister of State for Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly Affairs Praful Pansheriya during the ongoing monsoon session of the assembly.
The resolution was passed unanimously, as the opposition Congress also extended its support.
“Thanks to the hard work of ISRO scientists and the continuous motivation and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we were able to land Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the moon. This is a matter of great pride for the entire country,” Pansheriya said while reading out the resolution.
“We also congratulate PM Modi and ISRO scientists and other technical staff for the successful launch of the Aditya L1 spacecraft,” he said.
Supporting the resolution, BJP MLA Mahesh Kaswala said the prime minister always stood by the scientists and “wiped their tears” in difficult times and appreciated them by giving them a pat on their back for a successful mission.
Both the prime minister and ISRO scientists deserve to be congratulated for the success of these two missions, he said.
Leader of the Congress legislative party Amit Chavda extended his party’s support to the BJP government resolution saying all the prime ministers, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Modi, should be remembered.
“Many congratulations to all the scientists and other technical staff of ISRO for the success of these two space missions. At the same time, all the prime ministers, starting from Nehru to Modi, should be remembered and they also deserve to be congratulated for this feat,” Chavda said.
The Congress MLA informed the House that Nehru had a scientific temper and was instrumental in starting India’s space programme under Dr Vikram Sarabhai.
He urged the Central government to issue a currency note commemorating the success of Chandrayaan-3 just like the Congress government in the past had issued a currency note featuring India’s first satellite Aryabhata in 1975.
Three central PSUs in Gujarat not following 85 pc local hiring rule
Three central government entities, including the Airports Authority of India (AAI), having their presence in Gujarat were not giving 85 per cent jobs to locals as per the rules despite repeated reminders, a state minister told the legislative assembly on Friday.
These three entities are the AAI, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). In 1995, a government resolution had ordered all the commercial entities, including central PSUs, functioning in Gujarat to hire 85 per cent of their workforce from Gujarat.
During question hour of the assembly on Friday, Congress MLA Imran Khedawala sought to know if these three central government entities were following the rule and what actions were taken by the state government against AAI, IOC and ONGC for not following the 85 per cent hiring norm.
In his response, state Labour, Skill Development and Employment Minister Balwantsinh Rajput admitted that these three public sector undertakings have not maintained the 85 per cent recruitment ratio for locals.
As per the latest data, these three PSUs are maintaining a ratio of 65 per cent as against 85 per cent prescribed in the state government’s GR (government resolution), he said in his response.
“We sent 24 communications to these central government entities during the last two years and also held meetings with them to resolve this issue. At present, 65 per cent of their total staff is local. Notably, 87 per cent of their labour force is from Gujarat. The issue is with managerial positions,” Rajput said.
“The management of these entities told us that they face difficulty in implementing the 85 per cent rule because their recruitment is done centrally and employees are transferred to different states,” the minister added.
Congress legislative party leader Amit Chavda suggested that instead of issuing a GR, the state government should bring a Bill making it compulsory for every company and PSUs operating in Gujarat to follow the 85 percent local hiring rule.