GANDHINAGAR: Referring to a recent report on the country's employment scenario, Gujarat Finance minister Saurabh Patel today said the state has been ranked number one in providing employment for the 12th successive year.Patel cited 'Employment Exchange Statistics 2013', published by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment."As per the latest report of 2013, out of 4.27 lakh candidates employed through employment exchanges across the country in 2012, exchanges in Gujarat gave employment to 2.46 lakh candidates."Thus, Gujarat stands number one in the country with 57.53 per cent employment provided by one state in comparision to all the other states put together," Patel said in his speech during the ongoing Gujarat Assembly session, invoking the issue under "matter of public importance"."Thus, Gujarat ranked No.1 from 2002 to 2012 in the country. In 2013 also, Gujarat provided employment to more than 2.71 lakh candidates," Patel said.The Minister also said that Gujarat registered highest number of vacancies to be filled up in the country."As per the central government's report, out of 6.83 lakh vacancies listed in India during 2012, Gujarat registered 3.44 lakh, which is almost 50 per cent of all vacancies across India."Citing the report in the Gujarat assembly, Patel went on to claim that Gujarat provided the largest number of jobs to women."Against the national average of 1.9 per cent in providing placement to registered women candidates, Gujarat provided employment to 35.9 per cent of total women candidates who registered with us during 2012, which is also the highest in the country."Out of 67,800 total women candidates given employment across India in 2012, more than 50 per cent -- that is 34,100 -- were employed by Gujarat-based employment exchanges," he said.However, Patel's claims invited strong protests from opposition members, who claimed that Gujarat is far behind in providing employment.After Patel's speech, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Shankersinh Vaghela of the Congress asked Patel to give a status report on an earlier Gujarat government promise made during the 'Vibrant Gujarat Summit' about providing employment to 1 crore candidates and how many were actually given employment.Another Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil also accused the BJP-led Gujarat state government of taking undue credit, because historically, Gujarat has always been ahead of others in providing employment.