19 lakh jobless in Gujarat, not 6 lakh: Economist contests chief minister Rupani's claim on organised sector

Hemant Shah, Suresh Mehta, Rohit Shukla

By A Representative
In a fresh calculation, a campaign organization set up ahead of the Gujarat elections, claiming to be not associated with any political party, has said, much against the "tall talk" of employment generation during the biennial Vibrant Gujarat global investment summits, during 2004-15, 43.44 lakh fresh unemployed were registered with Gujarat's Employment Exchanges. Of these only 24.41 lakh people could get employment.
Contesting the figure provided by Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, that there are only six lakh unemployed in the state as of today, economist Prof Hemant Shah, associated with the Lokshahi Bachao Andolan, or Save Democracy Movement, told media in Ahmedabad, "Even if we concede that Employment Exchange figures are true, as many as 19.09 lakh people could not get employment during 2004-15."
Shah said, "Each year fresh unemployed are registered, and the names of those who get jobs are deleted. The total number of new job seekers registered with Employment Exchanges in 2001-02 was 2.52 lakh. Things deteriorated year after year. In 2015-16, the number of those who registered for jobs increased to 6.11 lakh. Of this, job recommendations were made for 5.12 lakh, but only 1.77 lakh, i.e. only 35% people, got jobs."
Pointing out that overwhelming majority of those who register themselves in Employment Exchanges are skilled workers, Shah said, this state of affairs is only of the organised industrial sector, adding, "As for the unorganized sector, we don't have any figures of the people who may be unemployed or underemployed. Nearly 90% of the workforce in Gujarat and India is employed in the unorganized sector, which includes agriculture."
Shah said, poor provision of employment in Gujarat has against the backdrop of huge claims made during the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' summits, begun by Narendra Modi as state chief minister in 2003. Thus, he said, figures show, during the 2009 summit an employment potential of 29.81 lakh was announced, followed by 60.69 lakh in 2011.
Addressing media, former BJP chief minister Suresh Mehta blamed the Gujarat government for hiding jobs data in the organised sector after 2010, saying, "The figures show that, as of March 2008, 18.39 lakh people were employed in state and private sector enterprises, which increased to 19.49 lakh in March 2009."
"Thereafter", he said, "The state government only released jobs potential data announced at different Vibrant Gujarat summits. Since 2007, about one crore jobs potential data were announced. If we all jobs potential announced for Special Economic Zones, it comes to 1.16 lakh. On the other hand, we find from whatever figures we have been able to obtain, that jobs increase by 1.5 or 2 lakh per year."
Continued Mehta, "The policy of offering employment to the local people up to 85% of vacancies in industries, including the Tatas Nano Project, has not been implemented. The government is offering relief in lands, water and power supply to the tune of crores of rupees, yet, thr government remains contented merely by issuing notices to such defaulter industries."
Veteran economist Rohit Shukla said, "One of the reasons for tremendous rise in unemployment in Gujarat is attributed to thoughtless, sudden, haphazard and abrupt demonetization and Goods and Services Tax (GST). A major portion of rural and urban population of the state is engaged in sectors such as construction, transport, home based industries, small and tiny sectors etc."
"These people were producing 61% products for the state GDP in the year 1997-98. Presently, its share has come down to 50%. Due to blows of demonetization and GST, 2% reduction is observed in the GDP growth rate. As per one calculation, reduction of 1% in the GDP reflects into 0.75 % reduction in the employment level", he added.

Comments

Babubhai Vaghela said…

UnEmployment Allowance is Desperate Need of Hour to Avail Right to Life Guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

December 01, 2017

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat* As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra* It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

As 2024 draws nearer, threatening signs appear of more destructive wars

By Bharat Dogra The four years from 2020 to 2023 have been very difficult and high risk years for humanity. In the first two years there was a pandemic and such severe disruption of social and economic life that countless people have not yet recovered from its many-sided adverse impacts. In the next two years there were outbreaks of two very high-risk wars which have worldwide implications including escalation into much wider conflicts. In addition there were highly threatening signs of increasing possibility of other very destructive wars. As the year 2023 appears to be headed for ending on a very grim note, there are apprehensions about what the next year 2024 may bring, and there are several kinds of fears. However to come back to the year 2020 first, the pandemic harmed and threatened a very large number of people. No less harmful was the fear epidemic, the epidemic of increasing mental stress and the cruel disruption of the life and livelihoods particularly among the weaker s...

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Counterview

Search This Blog