Bits & bytes
Gurgaon initiative for jobless youth
Ravi S. Singh

WITH the new government in Haryana just about settling down, it has started showing urgency in creating jobs for the youths in Gurgaon district.

The Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, Sudhir Rajpal, has already had a series of meetings with the captains of industry, heads of various local banks and officers in charge of Industrial Training Institutes (IITs) and the Labour Department, in an effort to evolve strategies to create job opportunities for the local youth.

According to Rajpal, various aspects are being looked into to create the maximum number of jobs by roping in private institutes along with government departments.

The office of the local General Manager, Industrial Development Centre (IDC), has been made the nodal centre to prepare a register of "skilled youths". The local employment exchange will also be involved in the preparation of data.

The initiative in Gurgaon for government-private coordination is expected to be extended to other parts of the state, especially the areas already on the path to industrialisation and modernisation.

Sources in the government say that the thrust will be on encouraging formation of cooperatives of youths in various categories to inject a sense of equity among them.

The lack of job opportunities was being felt in great measure in this district. The reason being that in order to keep up with the rapid development, industrialisation and expansion of Gurgaon city, agricultural land in a large number of villages is being continuously acquired by the government.

Consequently, a large number of farmers have no land left with them. And due to lack of requisite qualifications and technical expertise, they cannot take up other vocations.

According to Deva Singh, president of the Jharsa-360 (a cluster of villages surrounding village of Jharsa), with no work, the local youth is taking to deviant ways. The unemployment problem is giving rise to several social evils, pushing up the crime rate. Frustration is mounting among the youth of families whose land holdings have shrunk on account of governmental acquisition. While industrial units are being set up on their land, these families are resentful that their own wards do not get jobs there.