Delhi polls: Has AAP's claim of creating '10 lakh jobs' been given a quiet burial?

Despite Delhi chief minister Atishi’s recent assertion that lakhs of jobs have been provided through the Delhi government’s Rozgar Bazar Portal, a response from the Directorate of Employment under the Right to Information (RTI) Act tells a different story.

In a recent RTI reply to rights activist Kanhaiya Kumar, the directorate confirmed that the Rozgar Bazar portal does not track the number of individuals employed through it. “Whenever a candidate is placed by an employer via the Rozgar Bazaar portal, the employer is not obligated to submit placement details to the department,” the response stated. Furthermore, job seekers are not restricted from posting job details even after securing employment.

Job creation has been a focal point for Atishi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with leaders focusing on the issue at political rallies ahead of elections in various states. As the Delhi assembly election campaign drew to a close, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal highlighted the unemployment crisis throughout the week.

This is the same party that has claimed for years that they know how to create employment, boasting about providing “10 lakh jobs in Delhi”, a message they have pushed in electoral campaigns in multiple states, including Punjab in 2022.

On several occasions, AAP leaders, including national convener Kejriwal, have stated that the Delhi government has created at least 10 lakh jobs through the portal for city residents in the private sector.

At more than six election rallies this week, Kejriwal emphasised that addressing unemployment would be his “top priority” should AAP return to power in Delhi. “My priority for the next five years will be creating employment and ensuring that our children get jobs. Our children are educated, but they are sitting at home without work,” he said at an election rally in east Delhi on 21 January 2025.

Interestingly, Kejriwal has not repeated earlier claims of providing 10 lakh or even 12 lakh jobs in his recent election speeches, with only a brief mention in a short video message.

In March 2022, the AAP government labelled its annual budget the ‘Rozgar Budget’, pledging to create 20 lakh jobs over the next five years. However, most projects announced under this initiative, including the Rozgar Bazaar 2.0 portal, which was meant to deliver 25 per cent of the promised jobs, have not materialised. The AAP government has provided no updates on the progress of the Rozgar Budget, and it has been noticeably absent from the party’s 2025 election messaging.

The party has claimed that 12 lakh jobs were created and that included 10 lakh jobs through Rozgar Bazaar. However, AAP has not provided a clear answer regarding the actual number of jobs facilitated through the portal or as part of the Rozgar Budget.

In a statement last year, the party said, “Several other initiatives are currently in progress to improve market infrastructure. In the first phase, the Delhi government will redevelop five major markets to provide world-class amenities. Funds have been allocated, and the project is awaiting approval from the MCD.”

The Rozgar Bazaar portal was initially launched in July 2020 by then chief minister Kejriwal with the URL jobs.delhi.gov.in, aimed at connecting recruiters and job seekers.

In October 2021, the Delhi government launched Rozgar Bazaar 2.0, claiming it would be a pioneering digital job-matching platform for entry-level employment. The employment department issued tenders for the portal on 14 October. The new portal was designed to offer AI-based job-matching services, along with end-to-end employment services for Delhi's youth.

Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia had praised the initial Rozgar Bazaar 1.0 portal, launched at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in July 2020, calling it a lifeline for both unemployed youth and small businesses in Delhi. He claimed that the portal had already advertised 10 lakh jobs for over 14 lakh job seekers, boasting that no other state government’s job-matching platform had been as successful.

In addition to AI-driven employer verification and job-matching, the platform was also intended to offer services such as skilling, career guidance, skill credentialing, and automated analytics to help job seekers secure meaningful employment.

Ahead of the December 2022 Gujarat elections, Kejriwal again claimed that AAP had provided “12 lakh jobs” in Delhi, a figure he repeated in speeches during campaigns in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.