Nagpur: The sorry state of employment revealed in an official survey has the Nagpur youths go vocal about their joblessness. In the face of India’s aspiration of becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy, the report of sharp decline in employment has turned an opener to those painting the rosy picture of progressive nation. With the unemployment rate hitting 45-year high, one of the world’s youngest democracies has significantly failed to make its youth employed (those between the ages of 15 and 24) while registering an alarming dip over the period of 13 years.
Data received from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) i.e. an employment-unemployment survey 2017-18 released by the Ministry of Statistic and Programme Implementation shows that youth employment (those between the ages of 15 and 24) has fallen from 8.14 crore in 2004 to 5.34 crore in 2017.
However, employment in the 25-59 age group and the 60 years and above group has gone up. While migration for studies and jobs coupled with family concerns is on the rise, the data shows their situation going from bad to worse.
Speaking to Nagpur Today, youth expressed their ordeals and government’s inaction on current scenario. While most of the guys had to shift to Pune and Mumbai and some moving out of the state in search of jobs, females suffer the most in the process of meeting their financial independence with no jobs in place.
Jobs in city, best way to curb migration:
A city based engineer, Mohammad Aquib, who was lucky enough to secure himself a supervisor’s job after his degree in today’s neck and neck competition scenario, says he barely gets long weekend to meet and spend some quality time with his family as the job he had to pick was in Uttar Pradesh. He laments, “The scenario of migration would have been resolved, had the administration brought sufficient jobs to the state.”
Aquib who had left home for over two years now says, “With the inauguration of SEZ-MIHAN, I along with several other engineers was on cloud nine, with a blind hope that we would easily secure job in our own city. However, soon our dream shattered knowing the truth. The jobs at MIHAN are nothing but a hogwash. Though, I am not close to my family unlike my other siblings, I am happy to earn my livelihood in UP. However, government should stress on employment related issued in the region to curb the issues of migration at least for their family’s sake,” he lamented.
Also Read: Pink Slip : Over a decade female employment fell by 1.5 cr, Nagpur women speak
Females at the suffering end
“We girls suffer in worst possible ways with our tradition of getting married at an ideal age,” says Kalyani Ladekar, an engineering student.
“If a female is not self dependent after her graduation, the family members start to barge in with marriage proposals. Hence it is necessary for her to achieve financial stability. With the aging in process and no jobs at hand, females are left with no option but to succumb to their family’s sheer pressure of marriage. The administration which gives slang like ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ should also be mindful of ensuring jobs to the same beti at an ideal age rather than turning blind eye towards situation,” asserted Kalyani.
– Shubham Nagdeve
