Over 75,000 people registered on UP govt job portal from April to July

Unemployment may be going up just a little bit in the state despite the resumption of economic activity during the Unlock phases , going by the number of those who

Unemployment may be going up just a little bit in the state despite the resumption of economic activity during the Unlock phases , going by the number of those who have registered themselves on the state government’s integrated employment portal.

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A total of 75,865 people registered themselves on the portal from April 1 to July 15, said an officer familiar with the issue who refused to be named.

Currently, there are about 34.51 lakh registered jobless persons on the portal, the officer added. This number is marginally higher the figure of 33.93 lakh unemployed persons that Uttar Pradesh minister for labour Swami Prasad Maurya had mentioned in a written reply to a question in the state assembly on February 7.

No significant increase in registration was witnessed in the initial weeks of 2020-2021 due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

From January 1 to March 31, 75,855 people registered themselves on the employment portal, the officer said.

“There were hardly any registrations in April and, in fact, the number of unemployed persons came down to 33.91 lakh in May 2020 as many of those already registered could not renew their registration during the lockdown period. Those registered have to renew the registration after every three years,” said the government officer aware of the developments on this front.

“Later, the beginning of Unlock-1 and Unlock-2 provided an opportunity for the unemployed persons to register themselves on the portal. Most of the new registrations have been apparently done after the beginning of the Unlock period,” he added.

Asked whether the arrival of migrant workers/labourers changed the unemployment scenario in Uttar Pradesh, another officer said, “This number of 34.51 lakh registered unemployment persons apparently does not include the migrants who have returned to the state from other states following lockdowns due to Covid-19 pandemic. The state government has carried out a separate exercise to profile the migrants.”

An elaborate exercise of profiling 37.61 lakh returnee migrants has been recently completed. Efforts are being made to provide them jobs as per their skills in the industry or to provide them loan to enable them start their own business after coming back to Uttar Pradesh.

Director, training and employment department, Kunal Silku said the rising number of registrations on the portal did not indicate increasing unemployment as people often used the portal not only to seek jobs but also to switch jobs.

“We want more and more persons to use the portal as any other job portal. Many persons continue with registration after getting employment to look for a new job,” said Silku. “We are also making efforts that all those completing their education or vocational course register themselves on the portal,” Silku said.

“Many unemployed persons may not have registered themselves on the portal while many may have done it for better avenues. But these figures are definitely a source of concern. In a limited way, this indicates increasing unemployment and the figures of those registering themselves may go up further,” said Yashvir Tyagi, former professor of economics department, Lucknow University.

“For rural migrant workers, the government has been implementing MNREGA. But there is no such focused programme for urban unemployed and the educated youth. The state government should take a note of this and work for the unemployed,” Tyagi said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has time and again asked his team of officers to work out strategy to provide jobs to the migrant returnees. He has also presided over programmes organised to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the industry to accommodate migrant workers. Loans have been also provided to them to start their own business.

Maurya was not available for comment on the issue. Replying to an adjournment motion in the state assembly in February 2020, Maurya had indicated that the BJP government was providing more jobs to people than the previous Samajwadi Party government.