In 18 months, 10 lakh people will be hired: PM Modi.

It was announced earlier this week that the Narendra Modi government would recruit 10 lakh people across different ministries and departments within 18 months, a period that ends less than 4-5 months before it seeks a mandate from the people again.

“PM Narendra Modi reviewed the status of Human Resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the Govt in a mission mode in the next 1.5 years,” the PMs Office tweeted. PM @narendramodi reviewed the status of Human Resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recru… https://t.co/Vcy7vbk0bQ

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) 1655179051000

Modi's directive to speed up vacancy filling gains significance when viewed in light of the opposition's recent efforts to turn vacancies and unemployment in general against the government in the recently held assembly elections, particularly in UP.

While BJP managed a comfortable victory, PM Modi's directive, combined with a similar order issued by UP CM Yogi Adityanath, addressed what could be potentially a vulnerability in its 2024 election plan.

During a Rajya Sabha question in July last year, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, said there were approximately 8.72 lakh vacancies in different central government departments as of March 1, 2020. The sanctioned strength of all central govt departments was 40.05 lakh, of which 31.32 employees were in position then. According to sources, a good chunk of the vacancies is in railways.