Do employment exchanges serve their purposes?

PLACEMENT CENTRES

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Are the employment exchanges in Assam worth their salt as ‘placement centres’? Does Dispur have anything tangible to claim on its much-hyped skill development schemes? These are open questions.

Employment exchanges in the State have lost their lustre as placement centres, so has the government in job generation and skill development. And these statements have records from none other than the State government to back them. Now Assam has a whopping 19 lakh registered and educated unemployed.

From 2010-2017 only 5,762 unemployed were placed with jobs by the employment exchanges of the State. This, when computed, shows that only 823 placements were provided annually on an average during the period through employment exchanges in the State. On the contrary, registration of unemployed youth is on the rise at an alarming rate in the State.

As and when the issue of employment generation comes up for discussion, those at the helm of affairs talk of honing skill. However, the figures of unemployed in the State show that a large number of skilled manpower have also not got employment opportunities. This, however, is the fact that unskilled manpower, mostly matriculation passed, higher secondary passed, simple graduates and simple post graduates comprise around 12 lakh of the 19 lakh unemployed in the State. The big challenge for the State government lies with providing employment avenues to the unskilled manpower.

But then, the employment records of 2017 show that 7,804 engineers, 942 medical graduates, 324 veterinary graduates, 832 agricultural graduates and 16,121 ITI-passed candidates were unemployed. All these, at any rate, are highly skilled manpower.

Another buzzword for placement with jobs is self-employment, along with skill development. Toeing the line, the State Government has a number of self-employment schemes like Sarothi, Biponi, Svayem etc. However, these self-employment packages lack anything that can woo educated youths.

As if to cap it all, yet another trend now seen in the state is a section of city-bound agricultural workforce. Such youths are seeking their fortunes in towns and cities, including metropolitan cities.

The State has around one lakh establishments that have absorbed around two lakh people. The fewer new industries coming to the State have less employability. No immediate solution that can bring about a paradigm shift in the unemployment situation is in sight in the State. The burgeoning unemployment problem casts its ugly shadow in the economy and social security in the State. Unless Dispur takes a tangible master plan instead of its stereotyped skill development schemes, the situation in the State, it seems, is not going to change for the better.

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