Questioning the government over the rising unemployment in the country, DMK leader A Raja pointed at how an MSc Mathematics student is getting employed as a sweeper at the Madras Municipal Corporation.
During the Question Hour, the Lok Sabha member sought the government’s response on how they are trying to deal with the lack of jobs the country.
During 2017-18, India’s unemployment rose to a 6.1%, highest in 45 years as per data provided by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data released for the period between September and December 2019, the unemployment rate for graduates stood at 18.5 per cent, more than twice the headline rate.The report showed that unemployment among educated youth rose over 60 per cent.
In March this year, several qualified engineers began manning parking spaces in various parts of Chennai along with parking attendants who have completed their 10th grade. More than 1,400 candidates applied for parking attendants jobs, of which 70 per cent applicants were graduates and 50 per cent were engineers.
Pointing at the critical lack of jobs in the country, Raja highlighted that a mechanical engineer and a person with an MBA degree is getting the job of a ‘Khalasi’ (helper) in railways.
In response to these claims, the Labour and Employment Minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, said that there were many central government schemes that cater for employment and pointed at measures that were being taken to tackle unemployment in the country.
Congress member Adoor Prakash also stepped in to question whether there is a significant increase in the number of registered unemployed people in the country.
‘The number of job seekers, all of whom may not necessarily be unemployed, registered on live register of employment exchanges in the country to the extent available were 4.35 crore, 4.34 crore and 4.24 crore during 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively,’ Gangwar said in a written response.
The minister revealed details based on information collected from all states and Union Territories.
In April 2016, the Labour Bureau began a Revamped Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) by increasing the scope to measure relative change in employment over successive quarters across non-farm industrial economy covering eight sectors.These include manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation and restaurants and IT/BPO sectors.
Gangwar also claimed there has been a ‘total positive change in employment from April 2016 to October 2017 to the tune of 6.16 lakh workers in the selected eight sectors of the economy.’
Also Read: Unemployment Rate At Worst In 45 Years; Rises To 6.1% In 2017-18
