PATNA: The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said the rate of unemployment in Bihar shot up to 46.6% in months immediately after Covid- induced lockdown. That figure was almost twice as much on the national level at 24%.
The figure gives a clear idea that unemployment is the key issue in the ongoing polls in the state, analysts say.
The figure of 46.6% must have gone even higher with the return of more than 22 lakh of migrant workers during the lockdown.
Most parties, including the ruling NDA and the opposition Grand Alliance, have let loose a string of promises centering on generating jobs.
Social scientists and pollsters believe that if the unemployment issue is significantly reflected in the Bihar results, it could also impact elections in West Bengal, where polls are due early next year. It would be for the first time unemployment would change the “electoral engineering” of parties in Bihar. A glimpse of it was seen in the surging crowd at the rallies of Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of the RJD, the key constituent of the Grand Alliance. Social experts say the CMIE data is alarming.
If not tackled seriously, it can lead to a serious law and order problem as jobless youths might take law in their own hands, they say. “Where there is a high rate of unemployment, migration goes on unchecked. Bihar, which accounts for 15% of the country’s total migration, is an example of it,” says Dr RK Verma, a social scientist. Manohar Kumar, a graduate in civil engineering in Patna, says he has been running from pillar to post for a job after graduation in 2018.
“I have now started teaching students of science stream. This time unemployment has become the real issue and will have an impact on the outcome,” he said. Nitish Kumar-led NDA claims to have provided six lakh jobs in the last five years, while BJP has promised to generate job opportunities for 19 lakh.
“Tejashwi Yadav’s promise to provide 10 lakh jobs first thing after coming to power has caught the fancy of jobless youths”, says DM Diwakar, a social scientist. “The unemployment issue will spread like wild fire across the country and will stay on till even the Lok Sabha polls in 2024,” Dr AK Narayan, an economist. The state government currently has 3.44 lakh employees whose annual wage bill is Rs 26,423 crore.
Pappu Yadav injured as stage collapses
MUZAFFARPUR: A stage and tent, set up for Jan Adhikar Party leader Pappu Yadav’s rally, collapsed on Saturday. He was addressing in Muzaffarpur’s Minapur constituency when the incident took place. Yadav’s JAP and Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party have joined hands to form the Progressive Democratic Alliance to contest the polls.