LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Employment scenario
The India Employment Report 2024 that says unemployment among youth has increased from around 35.2% in 2000 to 66% in 2024 reveals the hollow promises of all governments. Political leaders/parties have hoodwinked people especially the youth. The muchlauded programmes with fancy names that are often talked about by the government at the Centre have done very little in terms of creating employment opportunities. The youth of India should be alert and diligent in casting their votes in the general election.
Chennai
As a professor teaching in a college in Thiruvananthapuram which offers 12 undergraduate and seven postgraduate courses in diverse subjects, I must confess that the number of students who would come to my office and offer sweets and seek one’s blessings after getting a job has drastically reduced. Another index of a decline in job openings in both the formal and informal sector is by just going through the daily newspapers on Wednesday. Till a few years ago, the advertisement for job vacancies covered about four to six pages, and sometimes these pages were detached and sold by newspaper vendors at a premium price, for which there was a mad scramble among job seekers. The number of pages is down to one, half, or quarter of a page.
Dr. Biju C. Mathew, Thiruvananthapuram
Ceasefire resolution
The UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza sends out a clear message: Israel is overdoing the retribution. Through the resolution process, the world sends out a message that violence does not lead to peace and security, but to endless cycles of violence and humanitarian disaster. Countries need to impress upon Benjamin Netanyahu that the smart and right thing to do is to refrain from attacking Rafah. While a twostate solution seems difficult at the moment, it is the only solution for peace.
Bengaluru
State of the media
Capitalist millionaires now own chunks of the media. Having sunk large sums into the lucrative business, they
The reference in a frontpage story titled “Sensing China threat, India joins race to mine new sea patch” (March 27, 2024) to the presence of AN Seamount, a structural feature off India’s coast, at an oceanic depth of 4,800 km should be corrected to read 4,800 metre. are busy ensuring that it is their writ that runs across the newsroom. The dominant coverage to the ruling government especially when it concerns the visual media is one such example Preelection surveys in the form of opinion polls which present a totally onesided picture predicting victory for the ruling dispensation ‘here, there and everywhere’ too could also be a huge public relations exercise (“SC raises concern over the rich gagging the media”, March 27).
Bengaluru