• Dr. Dhyan Singh Gothwal

There is only one question facing the people of the country today, “When will the government make food and employment available to all.” People’s struggle today for employment, food, clothes and shelter even in the 21stcentury, shows that the government of the country is playing tricks with the youth. That is why the situation of unemployment in India remains frightening today. Youth plays an important role in the ‘Reformation’ of any country. That’s why the future of a country where the number of educated and hardworking youth is more, is considered bright. India is a rich country in terms of human resources and young generation all over the world. But today a country like India, which adopted the democratic governance system after independence and laid the foundation of a public welfare state, in which giving a prominent place to education, health, employment and opportunities to move forward to all under the basic rights and directive principles of the Constitution, it is said that the Indian government is “of the people, by the people, for the people”.

In that very India, despite the constitutional arrangements, there is only one question facing the people of the country today, “When will the government make food and employment available to all.” People’s struggle today for employment, food, clothes and shelter, even in the 21st century, shows that the government of the country is playing tricks with the youth. That is why the situation of unemployment in India remains frightening today.

In 2014, the youth had given their wholehearted support and vote to the Modi government only because they had promised to give 2 crore jobs every year along with showing big dreams to the youth, but today even after 8 years, they are yet to give jobs. Also, about 10 lakh posts of retired employees are lying vacant.

At present, if we look at the employment situation in India, there emerges a frightening picture of the unemployed. In the report of the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), it is believed that unemployment today is at its peak in India. Unemployment at 6.1 percent in the year 2017-18 was the highest in the last 45 years. According to the CMIE report in The Economic Times, the unemployment rate in India in October 2022 is 7.77 percent. Today, more than 3.1 crore people are unemployed. The youth in India need about 2 crore jobs every year, but the government is providing only nominal jobs. The Government of India itself admitted that about 10 lakh posts are lying vacant in all the departments of the government, in which about 1 lakh posts are vacant in the Indian Army. In Lok Sabha, Minister of State Jitendra Singh said about the question in the Parliament by MP AnumulaRevanth Reddy, that since 2014 in the last 8 years, 22 crore people have applied for permanent jobs. In return, the government could provide only 7 lakh jobs in 8 years, which is only 0.3 percent of the applications for permanent jobs.

Today, along with rampant unemployment, inflation has taken a dreadful form. The government has made the life of the common man difficult by increasing the prices of petrol and diesel, increasing the prices of household and food items, imposing direct taxes as well as indirect taxes, cess and increasing GST. Today the situation is such that the Modi government that was promising to deposit 15 lakh rupees each in peoples’ accounts, has come down to distributing 5 kg wheat to each. Today, more than 27 crore people of India are living below the lifeline.

The Modi government kept making big promises, but there is a huge difference between their words and actions. On one hand, the government, which promises to take the country forward on the path of development and provide 2 crore jobs annually, is preparing to sell India’s Navratna companies, LIC, Railways etc. It is well-known how BSNL was ruined to benefit his friend Ambani’s Jio company. Today, the question is that if the central government sells the Railways, LIC, BSLL and Navratna companies which provide the maximum number of jobs, then from where will the youth get permanent employment?

Today, lakhs of posts are lying vacant in Armed Forces, KendriyaVidyalayas, Higher Educational Institutions, Health Institutions, Navratna Companies, Public Sector Banks, Police and Courts. Government’s ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’ schemes have died big dreams which shows that the Modi government has “neither any vision nor any policy” for providing employment to the youth and their future. All their attention is more on destabilizing the state governments of other parties, breaking into the parts of the states by imposing cess, spoiling their financial condition by not paying their share of GST money and running the country through dictatorship by capturing democracy. It is well-known to what extent the country’s resources and property are being misused to benefit their friends.

On one hand, the Modi government is engaged in fulfilling its agenda, while on the other hand, the young generation suffering from rising unemployment and inflation is getting frustrated. Parents invest their entire life’s earnings in the education and future of their children. When the same youth remain unemployed, they undergo immense pain unknown to others. Educated and skilled youth is the wealth of a country; If you are not able to train them well and connect them with employment and business, then this wealth proves disastrous. Today, the major reason for the increase in the number of crimes is not getting employment on time. The policies of the Modi government have created such a dangerous situation in the country that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Opposition parties, big economists and intellectuals as well as the MP of their own Party Shri Varun Gandhi are expressing concern over this situation. Now, the newly elected Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has surrounded the Modi government on unemployment and inflation and said that such a situation wasn’t there during the Manmohan Singh government. During his tenure, a scheme like MGNREGA proved to be a lifeline for the people, which is still providing employment to the rural people.

Former Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi is also continuously raising unemployment and other issues in his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. He said that the Modi government made big promises to end unemployment, but did the opposite, due to which unemployment is continuously increasing, which is becoming a huge problem for the youth of the country.

Today, the Modi government has realized that the youth and the general public are extremely angry with unemployment and inflation and they have understood that they cannot win elections all the time by directing the attention of the people to emotional issues like Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan. Therefore, in a hurry, Gujarat came up with the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ before the elections, which is nothing less than a hoax with the youth.

Today, in the 21stcentury, Indian youth want to fly. It needs thousands of opportunities to move forward. If the government does not formulate a concrete strategy after thinking about the situation of unemployed youth in time, then the Sri Lankan kind of situation will emerge in the country with the largest number of youths. Today, the biggest need of the country is that the first priority of the government should be to provide employment to every youth. Therefore, today there is a great need to create new employment opportunities in the interest of the country.

(The author is Deputy Editor, Biyani Times, Rajiv Gandhi Study Circle, Rajasthan, State co-coordinator and senate member of University of Rajasthan)