Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly on Tuesday witnessed noisy scenes over rising unemployment in the state as Opposition BJP and Congress targeted the government on the issue.
The opposition members said the state government has failed to provide jobs to the youths in the state while they are migrating to other states in search of employment.
Participating in an adjournment motion, Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “Youths are going to other states for work while a whopping 22.5 per cent of the total government posts are lying vacant. In its 2014 election manifesto, the ruling BJD had promised to provide employment to 150 people in each panchayat and generate 2 lakh jobs every year.”
Where are the jobs that the party had promised to provide, he questioned.
Similarly alleging that Odisha is the number one state in the country as far as the unemployment problem is concerned BJP MLA Bishnu Sethi said the State has even failed to spend the central funds for the purpose and Odisha youths are migrating to other states for jobs.
The government has set up Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) but teachers’ posts in the institutes are lying vacant. On the other hand, liquor stores are being set up in the villages, he added.
“The government has not given priority to employment. Between 1999 and 2008, 45,513 primary posts were removed and according to a reply by the Finance Minister, as many as 2,26,513 posts are lying vacant,” said opposition chief whip Mohan Charan Majhi.
“Unemployment has risen sharply in the past 22 years due to incompetence of the state government. There has been widespread corruption in employment and the government has a key role in the matter,” he alleged.
Replying to the adjournment motion, Skill Development Minister Pritiranjan Gharai said training programmes are being held regularly to make youths employment ready.
As many as 1,00,564 young people have been provided training between 2011-12 and 2021-22 of which 27,611 youths have been recruited, he stated.
As many as 82 skill development centres have been set up while as many as 296 job fairs have been organized in 30 districts across Odisha in between 2008-09 and 2021-22 in which as many as 5,60,045 job aspirants took part. Of them, a total of 1,48,645 participants have been recruited, he added.
Also, as many as 240 young men and women are being trained at World Skill Center and a total of 5,06,965 youths have been trained and self-employed in the last three years, said the Minister.
Employment and training are also being provided at model career centres that have been set up in Sambalpur, Cuttack, Rourkela, Dhenkanal, Berhampur, Keonjhar and Koraput with the help of the Central Government, he further added.
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