In poll year, MP govt plans to give 1 lakh jobs in a day
BHOPAL: AS PER MP ECONOMIC SURVEY, 2018, THERE WERE 11.24 LAKH REGISTERED EDUCATED UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE IN THE STATE BY 2016 END
With unemployment a major issue and elections barely six months away, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced a ‘mahapanchayat’ in each of the 51 districts, during which it claims it would provide jobs to one lakh people in a day.
The government of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ruling the state for three consecutive terms now, could create an average of only 17,600 jobs annually in the last 14 years, as per the government data tabled in the assembly during the budget session this year.
According to Madhya Pradesh Economic Survey-2018, there were 11.24 lakh registered educated unemployed people in the state by the end of 2016.
The opposition Congress has described the job announcement a “political stunt”.
For its ambitious ‘one lakh jobs in a day’ plan, the government’s Skill Development and Employment Generation Board has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Punebased firm, Yashasvi Academy for Talent Management Pvt Ltd, which would turn the employment exchange offices in 15 districts into “placement centres” under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The board has also invited more than 1,000 private companies to participate in the mahapanchayat scheduled to be held some time in July.
“During the mahapanchayat, the candidates will be given a letter of intent and if they show their interest, they would be provided offer letters. All the data will be uploaded on the website, and our monitoring committee will keep an eye on the process,” board chairman Hemant Vijayrao Deshmukh said.
The exercise is being seen as a last-ditch effort by the BJP-led government.
Berozgar Sena, a social organisation formed to raise the issue of unemployment, and the Congress have termed the decision to hold the mahapanchayat a political stunt and last minute preparations to woo the young, educated voters. Organisation member Akshay Hunka called the announcement a ‘jumla’ ahead of the assembly elections.
“In the past 10 years, the number of suicides due to unemployment has increased by 2,000%, according to NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau). This one-day mahapanchayat is nothing but a process of fooling the (jobless) youngsters,” he said.
MP Youth Congress president Kunal Chaudhary said, “The BJP-led state government didn’t show any concern about youngsters in the past 14 years but now all of a sudden, they became so active that they will provide jobs to one lakh youth in a day. This is a political stunt and another way to cheat the youngsters.”
But employment board chairman Deshmukh insists it is not.
“We have put in a lot of efforts in generating employment in the past two years but we don’t believe in publicity,” he said.
“It is a genuine effort to help the unemployed people. We are also trying to coordinate with all the engineering colleges for campus selection,” the Nagpurbased RSS leader said.
Deshmukh also said that the Pune-based firm will not only revive 15 employment exchange offices but also provide people with jobs by enhancing their skills in the next one year.