11,000 back home in Kangra, unemployment set to surge

Number could run in lakhs

— The data reveal that the number of people returning to the district and the state is likely to increase in the coming days.

— The number of the youth, who are likely to return due to job loss, could be in lakhs, posing a big challenge to the state government.

— Already, Himachal has about 8 lakh unemployed youth registered with the Employment Department.

— Besides, unemployment is sure to increase due to slump in the tourism sector due to the pandemic.

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 15

The lockdown in the country will lead to a substantial increase in unemployment in Himachal. As per the data collected by the Kangra district administration, 11,000 youth, who were working in other states, have returned to Kangra due to job loss. Those who have returned include highly-skilled software engineers, semi-skilled labourers, who worked in logistics companies, skilled labourers, who worked as cooks, and unskilled labourers.

The administration with the help of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has designed its own software. The centre has recorded the reasons for their return to the state due to the lockdown. The software data till date show 78,000 people having come to Kangra since the lockdown was imposed — these include about 11,000, who have returned due to job loss, 1,001 for family functions, 546 for joining duty, 3,128 for medical reasons, 6,390 after taking leave from their jobs, 27,700 for taking care of their parents and 28,000 for other reasons.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati says that the administration has included these features in the software to ascertain the reasons why people are returning, as it will help them in better planning for coming months.

The data reveal that the number of people returning to the district and the state is likely to increase substantially in the coming days. The number of the youth, who are likely to return due to job loss, could be in lakhs; this may pose a big challenge to the state government.

Already, Himachal has about 8 lakh unemployed youth registered with the Employment Department. Besides, unemployment is sure to increase due to slump in the tourism sector due to the pandemic. In Kangra district alone, about 50,000 youth were employed directly and indirectly in the tourism sector; tourism is unlikely to resume in the state in the current year. Most of the hotels and restaurants in Kangra have laid off their employees; they have retained a minimum number of employees to maintain the properties.

Meanwhile, Opposition leaders, including former minister GS Bali and district Congress president Ajay Mahajan, have asked the state government to immediately start paying unemployment allowance to the youth, a budget provision for which was made by the previous Congress government.