| Job generation programs prove to be eyewash in JK | | Mere 8 % youth imparted training, handful given employment | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 13: The Himayat scheme launched amidst much fanfare to address the growing unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir has proved to be yet another flop show with numbers depicting a dismal picture of the program and the way it is sinking into unimaginable oblivion.
Official documents in possession of Early Times reveal that under the program training for the period ranging from 3 to 12 months is imparted in domain areas/ skills with assured employment after completion of training to the youth is provided by Program Implementing Agencies or PIAs. The PIAs are responsible for conducting training of youth with expected outcome of 70 percent of trainees to be placed at entry level service/ manufacturing sector jobs within or outside J&K.
The government was requested to mobilize candidates for training and activate existing Self Help Groups (SHGs) for this purpose.
Although a target number of 53,547 youth were to be trained during the period from 2016 to 2019, the achievement was only 4,494 (8 per cent). Documents in this regard reveal that training was provided in trades viz. Test Engineer software, Banking associate, Retail sales associate, Health care Multipurpose worker, Medical Laboratory Technician, Sales Director, Insurance Sales associate, Medical sales representative, Light Motor Vehicle (LMV) Driver level-III, Hospitality Assistant, Security Guard, Assistant Electrician, Fashion Designer, Sewing Machine operator etc.
Furthermore, there were 27 active PIAs which had provided training to 4,494 candidates and 6,871 candidates were trained till 2019. Though during the years 2016-17 and 2017-18, only 123 youth were trained and no placements thereof were made during these years. Further, out of a total of 4,494 youth trained, only 732 youth (16 per cent) were placed in jobs during the period from 2016 to 2019. For the year 2019-20, no targets were fixed though 10,045 unemployed youth were trained against which 2,582 youth (26 per cent) were placed in jobs.
According to the government, there were challenges in providing placement to the candidates as there was low potential of employment within the State due to limited organized private sector opportunities and the unwillingness of candidates to move out of the State for taking up jobs outside the State. To increase the number of placements, the HMMU had organized a Job fair in June 2019 wherein 10 Companies offered jobs to 194 candidates. Further, eight more job fairs had been conducted for providing job opportunities to the trained candidates.
Such a situation has yet again put a question mark over the way these employment generation programs are implemented in the erstwhile state and whether in spite of spending a plethora of public funds, the situation vis-à-vis the joblessness continues to remain unchanged and worrisome. |
|
