Bhubaneswar: Senior BJD Lawmaker Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo has expressed serious concern over raising unemployment rate in the State and wanted to know steps taken by the State government to create sustainable jobs, especially for rural and tribal youth.
Shri Singh Deo raised this issue in the House through a question and sought a reply from the Skill Development & Technical Education Minister.
“Odisha’s unemployment rate has risen despite multiple government programs. What is the latest unemployment percentage as per the CMIE report?,” Shri Singh Deo asked.
How many youths were trained under government skill development schemes last year, and what percentage secured jobs? Will the Government Provide district-wise details and MSMEs struggling due to poor infrastructure and financial support, what targeted assistance is the government providing to revitalize small businesses and boost employment?, the BJD Lawmaker Shri Singh Deo further asked.
In his reply, Minister Industries and Skill Development, Sampad Chandra Swain said the latest unemployment rate of the State is 3.1 percent for the year 2023-24 as per the CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) report. It declines to 0.8% as compared to the previous year rate of 3.9%, he said.
The rural & tribal youth of the State are being trained with different skills under Placement Linked Training Program (PLTP) and Chief Minister’s Employment Generation Programme(CMEGP) and subsequently being engaged in different organizations, Swain said.
Under the collaboration of District Administration, Army Rallies and Job Fairs are being conducted in regular intervals. World Skill Centre (WSC), Odisha Skill development Authority (OSDA), Model Career Centres (MCC) and Block Level Counselling Centres (BLCC) are also committed towards enhancing the employability of the youth through elaborate training programmes, he said.
Similarly, the Minister said ITIs and Polytechnics have been set up in the remote areas for making the rural & tribal youth equipped with employable skills.
Campus drives are being conducted through Central Placement Cell (CPC) under DTE & T for providing job avenues to the youth passed out from Diploma & ITI institutions.
A total of 8,108 youths were trained under Placement Linked Training Programme, out of which, 3,922 (48.37%) youths were offered jobs during last year. Similarly, 2275 youths were trained under NUA-Odisha Scheme during the last year, he informed.
The MSME Department has notified a new scheme in the name of “Multi Product MSME Park” with a total project cost of Rs 250 crores for development of one Multi Product MSME Park in every District and IDCO has been entrusted with the implementation of the MSME Parks.
Micro Sector manufacturing and service enterprise units are being extended with credit support under the PMEGP Programme through Financing Banks to set up new projects. Under the scheme, eligible new enterprises are being extended with margin money support in terms of grant/ subsidies, he added.
Shri Swain further said that Micro, Small enterprise units are being promoted for credit support from banks for collateral free loan up to maximum limit of Rs 5 crore under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) Scheme.
Under Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR), Odisha MSME Development Policy and Odisha Food Processing Policy, there are provisions of incentives and subsidies for eligible industrial MSM Enterprises to revitalize industrial enterprise and boost employment.
Chief Minister’s Scheme for Reimbursement of Interest to MSMEs (CM-SRIM) is being implemented by Government aiming at offering financial assistance to the Manufacturing MSMEs by way of reimbursing of interest paid by them to banks on Working Capital Loan availed at different rates, the Minister added.