Bhubaneswar: Opposition in Odisha Assembly, BJP and Congress on Tuesday slammed the State Government raising the unemployment issue.
The Opposition members alleged that even after 22 years of BJD rule, the Government has failed to provide jobs and check the migration of youths to other states in search of jobs.
They alleged that various schemes launched by the State Government and the start-up schemes had failed to generate employment.
They further said although lakhs of posts in several Departments are lying vacant, the Government was not taking any steps to fill up these posts and instead appointed retired employees on a contractual basis.
Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said youths are going to other States for work while a whopping 22.5 percent 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.
The Government, he said during the last three years, opened ITIs to train the unemployed youths but most of these institutes are closed as there were no teachers to train the youths. On the other hand, liquor stores are being set up in the villages, added the Congress leader.
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.
Mr.Majhi said employment is not a priority of the government and it failed to solve the unemployment problem. The unemployment rate in Odisha is 5.4 per cent which is higher than the national average of 4.2 per cent.
There has been widespread corruption in employment and the government has a key role in the matter, he alleged.
Mukesh Mahalinga of BJP and Bahinipati demanded the government to stop appointing people on a contractual basis immediately
In his reply, Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Pritiranjan Gharai said training programmes are being held regularly to make youths employment ready.
He claimed that the unemployment rate in Odisha is the lowest in the country and said over five lakh youths were given jobs through the Chief Minister’s Employment Generation Programme during the last three years.
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.