Job exchanges help few people

Less than 1% of registered job seekers got placed: Min

New Delhi, July 24: Only a fraction of jobseekers registered with employment exchanges across India are able to secure jobs, the labour ministry informed Parliament on Monday.

As on September 30, 2015, barely 0.56 per cent of the candidates got placement. Of all the registered 4.48 crore job aspirants, 2.53 lakh were placed, labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

In 2014, there were 4.82 crore candidates who sought employment through the exchanges across all states, but only 0.7 per cent — 3,38,500 — made it.

In 2013, the placement was over 0.7 per cent. In the year prior to that, however, the number is slightly better at over 0.9 per cent.

The minister was fielding queries on the number of people provided employment and those who received call letters through employment exchanges in the last 3-4 years.

To another query, the minister said the labour ministry is implementing the National Career Service (NCS) in mission mode to transform the National Employment Service to provide employment related services.

Meanwhile, the minister said that employees of IT start-ups and small industries can claim provident fund and social security benefits under various provisions of labour laws.

“The workers of IT start-ups and small scale industries may avail of benefits of provisions of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, the Employees’ State Insurance Act and social security schemes under the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act depending on eligibility,” he said.

He was responding to a question on social security and welfare of workers in these sectors.

He said government schemes are specifically targeted towards unorganised workers to give them comprehensive social security.