Centre plans blitz of job fairs in UP
With an eye on the coming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Narendra Modi government has identified prominent cities in the poll-bound state to hold “Rozgaar Melas” to woo young people. With the largest number of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies, Uttar Pradesh is considered one of the most politically crucial states and about 40 per cent of its population is below 30. Not just the BJP, other political outfits, including the ruling SP and Mayawati’s BSP, are also desperately trying to woo the youth population ahead of the crucial polls. The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP government in the state recently approved the State Youth Policy 2016, and Mr Yadav’s supporters are trying to project him as the future of the SP,
which is now battling a family crisis. One such “successful” job fair was held last month in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency.
The youth population is one of the main focus areas of the BJP in its poll strategy, and it was a major support base for the BJP and Mr Modi in the 2014 general election. Youth empowerment was also a key BJP poll promise in the general election and it figures prominently in the campaign speeches of its top leaders. This will be a key part of the BJP’s election manifesto for Uttar Pradesh.
The skill development and entrepreneurship ministry, sources said, has identified more than 20 districts, that includes Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bijnore, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur, to hold such job fairs in the coming days to woo the state’s youth.
The job fair held in Varanasi last month saw over 1,200 youths being handed employment letters by prominent firms. These youths were a part of the skilled workforce trained by the ministry in skills, including electricians, computer operators, carpenters, among others. Thirty major companies had been a part of the exercise.
The ministry wants to train 5,000 youths in each of the state’s big cities with these “Rozgaar Melas” before the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect in Uttar Pradesh.