Unemployment reverberates loud in Himachal poll battle

Although unemployment becomes an issue in every election in Himachal and the parties have promised 75% of jobs to Himachalis in the industrial sector, however, the ground reality remains otherwise.

The ever-increasing number of jobless youths in the tiny hill state that lacks resources and industrialisation has become a major issue in the 2022 assembly polls.

The ever-increasing number of jobless youths in the tiny hill state that lacks resources and industrialisation has become a major issue in the 2022 assembly polls. (HT File/ For representational purposes)

Although unemployment becomes an issue in every election in Himachal and the parties have promised 75% of jobs to Himachalis in the industrial sector, however, the ground reality remains otherwise.

The bulk of the workforce in the industrial units in Himachal is from other states. Now, as Haryana is bringing legislation to ensure 75% of jobs for Haryana youth in the industry, Himachal is also likely to tread a similar path.

However, there is a reason why the criterion of 75% jobs to locals is not feasible --Industry-required skilled labour. In Himachal, there is always a dearth of skilled labour and the industry isn’t able to meet its demand from the local youth. To overcome the shortfall, they engage labour from other states.

Jobless Brigade

As per the figures available from the department of labour and employment, the number of registered unemployed youth in the state was a staggering 8,77,507 (figures as on March 31, 2022). This is more than 12% of the total population of the state.

More than 76,000 are postgraduate; 1.41 lakh graduates; 6.28 lakh matriculates and undergraduate; 30,000 under matric and 400 illiterates. More than 44% of registered jobless are women.

As per estimates, more than 60,000 young men and girls come into the job-seeking market every year after finishing their studies.

HP ranks 8th on unemployment chart

According to data released by the think-tank, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Himachal Pradesh is the fourth state with the highest unemployment rate. Himachal’s unemployment rate in October was 9.2%.

Rajasthan was in the top position with an unemployment rate of 23.8%, followed by Jammu Kashmir at 23.2% and Haryana at 22.9%. The national average was 7.8%.

The high number of jobless was mainly due to the lack of industrialization in Himachal. “We lack in infrastructure,” says AICC secretary Raghubir Bali, who spearheaded Congress’ “Yuva Sangarhsh Yatra.”

The pace of industrialization in Himachal Pradesh has been slow over the years. In the last two years nearly, 2,484 industrial units both small and big came up in Himachal bringing in nearly ₹16,987 crore in investment and generating nearly 15,000 jobs. There are nearly 50,000 industrial units in Himachal Pradesh, mostly located in Baddi Barotiwala and Nalagarh Industrial region and Parwanoo in Solan district, Kala Amb, Dhaulakuan in Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district, Mehatpur in Una and Sansarpur in Indora district.

Unrest among youth

Another reason for high unemployment is that youth give preference to government jobs. The highly qualified youth mostly attempt to get into government services, though the opportunities are limited. “The government often talks about the fast-growing economy and the double-engine government pushing growth but the youth in the state are jobless. Instead of talking about what (PM Narendra) Modi did for Himachal, the state government should have issued details of how many jobs it provided in the last five years,” said Congress’s youth president Nigam Bhandari.

The growing unemployment is leading the unrest amongst the youth. Demanding job reservation for the upper castes, two the two big organisations ‘Devbhumi Kashtriya Sangthan’ and ‘Devbhumi Swarna Morcha’, representing the upper castes staged a vociferous protest in the state compelling the government to announce ‘Samnya Varg Ayogh’ for them. The upper caste comprises 51 % of the total population of which 32.72% are Rajputs and the other 18% are Brahmins. “We are constantly demanding reservations. The future of our children is bleak if there is no job reservation for them. They will be jobless in years to come,” said Rumit Singh Thakur, president of Devbhumi Khastriya Sangthan.

“The upper caste organisation has floated a political outfit ‘National Devbhumi party’ and have fielded candidates in 17 assembly segments. “Employment is an issue in this election. The government carried out some recruitment drives but the issue of unemployment remains,” said Harish Thakur, head of the political science department at Himachal Pradesh University.

“A team of college professors conducted a survey across the state to understand the issue that people have in mind during this election. As many as 39.% of people observed that unemployment was a major issue while 35.2 % of people were worried about inflation,” he said.

“Unemployment is a countrywide issue. It is not a problem that started five years ago. Our government provided jobs to more than one lakh youth in the state. The government provided 30,000 jobs through outsourcing. It is not an issue which emerged overnight and has been there since the time of Congress rule, “ said Amit Thakur, state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.