Madhya Pradesh: Youths Protest Against Closure Of Employment Offices, Lack Of Govt Jobs

Unemployed youths in Madhya Pradesh took to the streets of Barwani against the government's decision of shutting down employment offices in 36 of the 51 districts. They also raised the issue of the lack of government vacancies in the state.

While marching, the protestors time and again bowed down as a sign of requesting the government for jobs.

Speaking on the matter, one of them said they had filled forms for nearly 21,600 posts, but only 863 out of them were filled.

"Where will the rest of us go? We are trying to reach out to the government through all the social media platforms. It has not planned to provide us jobs, rather it has decided to close down the employment offices. How does it make sense?" NDTV quoted the youth as saying.

The employment offices contain a record of the number of unemployed people, with their resumes and necessary details, and provide employment to the suitable profiles. The offices are like an in-built mechanism of matching a job seeker's profile with active job opportunities.

Former Urban Development and Housing Minister Jaivardhan Singh had raised the question in the ongoing assembly session about the closing down of the employment offices.

However, Singh said the government had a contradictory stand, by mandating people to register at employment offices for direct recruitment but plans to shut down offices at the same time. He alleged that the state government failed in providing jobs, and to hide its failure, it plans to shut employment offices in the state.

However, the government has its arguments in this regard. Cabinet Minister Vishwas Sarang said that people must not just rely on government jobs but also explore opportunities even in the private sector, and also consider self-employment.

This comes at a time when more than 13.57 lakh candidates have registered themselves in these offices since March 2020. According to private agencies, there are about 1.5 crores unemployed youths in the state.

However, in the Economic Survey, the government has stated that there are a total of 24.72 lakh registered unemployed in the employment exchanges.

According to the report, nearly 70,000 posts are vacant in the School Education Department, for the 30,000 vacant posts of category one and two in school education. The examination took place three years ago, but the candidates are running from pillar to post for the appointment.

In the police department, there are 9,000 vacancies. Due to lack of recruitment for three years, nearly three skill development departments had advertised for recruitment for the post of district facilitator in 2018. Around 102 candidates were selected, interviews were conducted, and verification was also done in the year 2019, but the appointment was not given.

In 2017, 9,235 recruitment for Patwari (village registrar or accountancy) and other posts came out, and more than 8 lakh candidates were involved. There were 1,300 posts left in waiting. Still, the candidates were not recruited.

The government has announced the recruitment of 24,000 teachers and are also conducting examinations for recruitment in the police department.

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