For bread and butter

Two instances from Punjab cities point to the employment scenario and are examples of the fault lines in the education system as well as the change wrought by the lockdown in the lives of the people. At Sangrur, two youths with the required eligibility, have been unable to find jobs as teachers and are now forced to work at brick-kilns, not just to earn a living but also to pay off their loans, and in Bathinda, daily wagers like the auto-rickshaw drivers and bus conductors have been forced to change their trade, selling vegetables and fruits instead, with public transport coming to a halt.

The unemployment of teachers in Punjab has even earlier been a sore point with the unions agitating and its members climbing water tanks in protest. Mismatch between the requirement and availability needs to be looked into and the necessary adjustments made. The lockdown has affected the education system, with schools and colleges yet to reopen. There have been agitations over the payment of fee and many private school teachers have lost their jobs. At some of the IITs, semester exams have been done away with and the students promoted. However, this cannot persist for long. An objective assessment needs to be made and teachers and institutions reoriented accordingly.

The pandemic though has seen a boom in certain sectors like healthcare with demand for professionals increasing amid a surge in Covid cases. Punjab, in fact, has announced the appointment of more doctors for its hospitals, hundred each in the three government-run medical colleges. But there are other sectors too that will need attention as the unlock process gets underway. A contrast is the closure of the thermal power plant in Bathinda that saw an agitation by its employees. Modernisation should follow with the setting up of alternative industries that are less polluting, generate employment and harness skill sets. Many of the states have undertaken skill mapping to decide on the core strength of workers and tap them accordingly. This should be extended to every field so that manpower, the most precious of resources, gets harnessed.

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