PUDUCHERRY: Under the aegis of Democratic Youth Union of India (DYFI), youngsters in Puducherry will be holding a cycle rally and a demonstration on April 21 to protest against the rise in unemployment. This will be part of a cycle rally in Chennai, Kaniyakumari, Coimbatore and Tiruchy.
Over 2.5 lakh youngsters in the UT have registered for jobs in the employment exchange. But as of June 2021, the unemployment rate in Puducherry was 47% and it is on the rise, said A Bhaskar and A Anand, respective president and secretary of the DYFI-Puducherry unit.
According to them, the Modi government which came to power in 2014 promised to create 2 crore jobs a year. But, over a crore of small and micro enterprises have been shut down due to demonetisation, GST levy and Covid-19, they said, adding in November 2021 alone, 68 lakh people earning a monthly salary lost jobs.
They claim, there are 60 lakh vacancies in the Central government departments and up to 200 million people fell into poverty during the pandemic alone. Around 9,140 people committed suicide due to unemployment in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The number of suicides due to unemployment is increasing year by year. It shows the incompetence of the ruling government in not being able to create jobs.
Simultaneously, the Centre is privatising profit-making public sector enterprises. "Modi's all-round development of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' has turned out to be a sham with 23% of urban youth in India remaining unemployed, '' they said, adding, in order to divert attention, the Centre resorted to divisive politics.Bhaskar and Anand said.
The DYFI Puducherry unit asserted, the Centre should stop handing over the power sector in Puducherry to the private sector and fill the vacancies in the power sector as permanent jobs. At the same time, the textile mills Anglo French textile mills, Swadeshi and Bharathi cotton mills should be revived, they said.
Their other demands include: Further age relaxation in employment at government departments, government must avoid appointments on temporary, contract, outsourcing, project basis that exploit the work of the youth, appointments must be made on a permanent basis.
The DYFI also sought implementation of reservation in private sector companies for Puducherry youngsters, job security and the Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme in Puducherry. They also demanded a minimum monthly wage of Rs 21,000 and safety of women in the workplace.