New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal and many other leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party have repeatedly claimed that their government in Delhi has provided 10 lakh jobs in the private sector to the residents of Delhi through its Rozgar Bazaar portal. However based on the available data, only 12,588 people have actually secured jobs through Rozgar portal till May 1, claims a news report published in  ‘The Hindu.’ This figure of 12,588 is also an estimate of the government, based on requirements posted by employers.

The Hindu in its report stated: As per data accessed by The Hindu till May 1, over 10.1 lakh active jobs were posted on the portal, but only 76,646 of these candidates were “screened” by people who posted the jobs and 12,588 “candidates were placed (who got the jobs)”. A government spokesperson was unable to share or explain data of people “screened” and subsequently “placed” under the scheme.

Santosh Kumar Mehrotra, former Professor and Chair of the Centre for Labour Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said, “the actual number of people who got jobs through the portal could be even lesser than 12,588. As the employer could be lying or even have fired someone after hiring. This has to be verified to get the actual data.”

AAP has used the claim of 10 lakh jobs many times, be it in interviews, election rallies or budget speeches, to project what the AAP terms the “Kejriwal model of governance” in Delhi.

In an interview with The Hindu in March, when asked about it, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reiterated that 10 lakh people actually got jobs through the portal and it was not that 10 lakh openings were posted on the portal.

However, according to data, only 76,646 candidates were “screened” by people who posted the jobs, and 12,588 were “selected” from July 2020 to May 1.

Later in an interview with India Today in March, Mr Kejriwal said, “Details about 10 lakh jobs are there in Delhi government’s web portal… Go and check in Delhi government’s Rozgar portal,” But the portal does not have any details on the number of jobs provided.

On March 26, 2022, Mr Sisodia’s Budget speech in the Delhi Assembly House read “through the Delhi Rozgar Portal, 10 lakh jobs in the private sector were created”.

On January 12, 2022, at a press conference in Punjab, Mr Kejriwal said, “We have given employment to 10 lakh children during COVID.”

By January 28, at another event in Punjab, the time frame during which the 10 lakh jobs were given changed to “past few years”. “Just like we gave 10 lakh jobs in Delhi, we will give in Punjab also,” the AAP chief said.

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Central government, the unemployment rate in Delhi is 9.1% in October-December 2021, which is the latest data. DeshGujarat