DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the state government is adopting "out-of-the-box ideas" to strengthen the education sector, which he described as a key to eradicate poverty and social ills.

Addressing a gathering after felicitating students who cleared the NEET exam, Mann said a paradigm shift had taken place in the education sector over the last three years due to revolutionary steps taken by the state government.

Mann said, "This is the red letter day as 509 students from government schools have cracked the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions into medical colleges," according to an official statement.

He said education, healthcare, infrastructure, industry, sports, employment and the fight against drugs are the government's top priorities.

No freebie or concession cards can eliminate poverty or other social maladies in the state, instead it is education that holds the key that can pull people out of this vicious circle by raising their standard of living, he said.

The chief minister said that his government is tirelessly making efforts to improve the standard of education to empower common people.

For the first time in the state a mass campaign in the form of "Yudh Nashesyan Virudh (war against drugs)" has been launched under which drug offenders are being arrested and action is being intensified, he added.

Mann said that after assuming the charge of office his government is trying "to clear the mess created by their predecessors over the past 70 years".

"Some of our youngsters got overage for government jobs due to the lackadaisical approach of previous governments," he said, adding that now under the AAP government over the past three years 54,000 youths have secured jobs completely on the basis of merit.

Mann said that in a "good omen" for the state, "reverse migration is being witnessed in Punjab as youth are leaving foreign land to join government jobs in the state." It is because the recruitment process is completely transparent.

Due to the efforts of his government the youth's faith in working for the state government have increased, shunning the idea of moving abroad, he said.

However, the chief minister said that a lot of brain drain took place due to the "apathetic approach of the previous regimes due to which a large number of youngsters had earlier migrated from the state".

Mann said since the AAP government has adopted a course correction, a large number of students are becoming an integral part of the socio-economic development of the state by joining government jobs. He said that the state government's concerted efforts for empowering women in the state has led to girls excelling in all the fields today and are even outnumbering boys. Mann further pointed out that his government has appointed seven women officers as deputy commissioners and eight women have been appointed senior superintendents of police.

(editor@dailyworld.in)