Unemployment in Haryana needs to be addressed

Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Former CM, Haryana

UNEMPLOYMENT has reached an alarming point which, along with the population growth, tends to threaten social peace, economic growth and political fabric of the country. Estimates of the National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2019 revealed that the level of unemployment is the highest since the past 45 years. This joblessness was particularly high (34%) among the Indian youth in the age group of 20 to 24 years. In urban areas, the rate was 37.5%. Faulty economic policies, devastating impact of the pandemic, coupled with the government’s apathy or lack of priority to address this problem, have aggravated the situation.

It is imperative to break the vicious cycle of unemployment through sincere and sympathetic policy interventions, which cannot be accomplished by simply adopting frivolous and populist measures. For example, the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act provides for 75 per cent reservation for locals in private sector jobs with a monthly pay below Rs30,000. Its legality and constitutionality have been challenged in the High Court. It will erode Haryana’s attractiveness as a preferred destination for investment.

Unemployment is a multi-faceted problem. Firstly, it exists due to the lack or absence of employment opportunities. Second, it is because of the current level of employability of job seekers. This is to say that the unemployability of the job aspirants due to the lack of desired or required skill also leads to such problems. Third, if the quality of jobs available commensurate to the skill or education level of the job seekers. Remember, the offer and advice of the government to the graduate youths/professionals to ‘fry pakoras’ in the streets. The cruder joke with the highly educated youths of Haryana (MA, MSc, BTech, MBA, etc) was to recruit them as Group-D employees (peons, sewadars, water carriers, etc). The shameless trumpeting by the government that this recruitment was based on merit rubbed salt into their wounds. Four, it is the disguised unemployment more particularly in the agriculture sector that is even more deleterious. There are many factors that contribute to creating an atmosphere due to which the job market sinks or flourishes.

It would be pertinent to take up the typical case of Haryana to analyse and understand the complexities of this problem because Haryana, despite being a comparatively prosperous and progressive state, has the highest rate of unemployment in the country. As per the data from CMIE-CEDA, the unemployment rate is the highest in Haryana (34.1%), followed by Rajasthan (27.1%) and Jharkhand (17.3%).

Ironically, like Haryana, many other states deny this fact and fudge data as per their political convenience. Perhaps, this, for them, is the easiest way to solve this problem! Similarly, several governments have denied the fact that many people died due to lack of medical oxygen during the second wave of Covid-19. In this way, they absolve themselves of the guilt of inaction and failure, and therefore, the unemployment rate is not taken as a critical input into policy-making by the governments as per this methodology.

To get government employment has become a mirage and nightmare for Haryana’s youth. There are more than 1 lakh sanctioned posts, including more than 50,000 posts of teachers, that are at present vacant. The scanty staff in schools, offices and hospitals is seriously affecting the services that have to be made available to common people. The functioning of government recruitment agencies like the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) and Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) has come under a cloud as they are quagmired in the ‘jobs-for-cash’ scams. There have been frequent paper leaks. Recently, the recruitment process of 9,361 posts, for which more than 27 lakh applicants have been waiting for the past two to eight years, was cancelled. Several other selections have also been withheld or cancelled.

On an average, there has been an increase of 2.5 lakh in the number of job seekers every year and about one lakh youths become overage due to tardy selections. Moreover, the unemployed youths face difficulties in registering themselves on the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam website, which is frequently out of order. Thousands of employees working on contracts, ad hoc, outsourcing, etc. are also facing an uncertain future. This gloomy scenario leads to tremendous frustration and anger among the educated youth.

Understandably, government jobs are limited in number in comparison to the growing demand for gainful employment. Unfortunately, that limited space is further shrinking due to the indiscriminate privatisation and monetisation of government and public sector undertakings, and the unwillingness of the governments to make new recruitments against a large number of vacant posts.

Therefore, firstly, it is imperative for the governments to break the vicious cycle of unemployment through sincere, serious and sympathetic policy interventions, which cannot be accomplished by simply adopting frivolous and populist measures. For example, the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, implemented since January 15, provides for 75% reservation for locals in private sector jobs with a monthly pay below Rs 30,000. Its legality and constitutionality have been challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Chambers of Industry and trade unions have expressed their apprehensions regarding its implementation and dubbed it as an election gimmick that will prove to be a race to the bottom. It will also erode Haryana’s attractiveness as a preferred destination for investment and industries may shift away to other states due to the lack of cheap and skilled workforce and corruption due to Inspector Raj.

The intent behind the legislation erroneously appears to be good but this is the wrong way to go about it. The Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes are raising their voice in favour of reservations for them in the private sector as well.

Although, at present, a low business sentiment, the third wave of the pandemic, non-availability of credit due to increasing NPA, low GDP, growing inequalities, weak demand and slow economic recovery pose serious hurdles for the job market to flourish. This situation can be reversed only through extraordinary efforts, and not mere lip service, which has become the governments’ standard practice.

Secondly, the government needs to address the issue of employability of our younger generation by improving the quality of education and upgrading their skills. Training courses with syllabus suitable for sun-rise areas of the economy should be launched immediately. I am afraid that the non-availability of teachers, closure of schools and colleges, and inadequate infrastructure for digital education will lead to the emergence of a large number of unemployable youths in the coming years.

Long-term unemployment can make any worker progressively unemployable such that they struggle to find employment even after the economy strengthens and there are increased job opportunities. This is largely because their skills grow blunt due to lack of constant practice. Also, many people are getting over-age due to non-recruitment against the vacancies available at present.

Thirdly, the agriculture sector, including agro-industry, needs to be strengthened as it has the potential to provide employment to a large number of skilled and unskilled workers, as evidenced during the pandemic. The MGNREGA programme should not be abandoned and its budget should be increased in order to ensure timely payments to wage earners.

Fourthly, emphasis should be laid on MSMEs, which provide gainful employment to a large number of artisans, skilled workers, artists, professional experts and others having adequate professional training. Such concerted efforts will certainly create an ecosystem wherein the job market can flourish. Meanwhile, suitable unemployment allowance should be given as per the qualification of the unemployed so that they can live with dignity.

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