UNEMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE TO TS YOUTHS SOON

Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao is all set to announce implementation of an unemployment allowance scheme to provide `3,016 per month to the unemployed youths across the state.

Official sources said the scheme is likely to come into force from the financial year 2022-23 starting in April.

A promise had been made by the Chief Minister for such an allowance during the 2018 assembly polls when he sought a second term for the TRS. It was also incorporated in the TRS manifesto for the assembly polls. Although the TRS retained power for the second term with a huge majority, the promised unemployment scheme could not be implemented in the last three years.

With the allocation of existing government employees to new local cadres and new districts based on the new zonal system nearing completion, a clarity on the exact number of vacancies in various departments will emerge. The government wants to issue job notifications for existing vacancies soon and also extend unemployment allowance to unemployed youths until they secure jobs.

There is simmering anger among students and the unemployed with no job notifications being issued by the TRS government for the past five years. Also, there was no unemployment as was promised three years ago.

The implementation of the unemployment allowance scheme was planned in 2019 but was delayed due to lack of guidelines to define who should be treated as 'unemployed'.

The government delayed the scheme in 2020 and 2021, citing the Covid-induced financial crisis.