Gap between the number of educated jobseekers and jobs in dire straits

GUWAHATI: The already yawning gap between the number of educated jobseekers and jobs has further widened to such an extent in the State that the process of recruitments has gone haywire.

Things have come to such a pass that applications from highly-qualified candidates for fourth grade posts like peons glut various departments as and when they publish advertisements for filling up these posts. According to official records, 84 per cent of the unemployed in the State are educated jobseekers.

According to sources, 80 applications had to be pushed aside for the post of drivers in the Gauhati High Court during the scrutiny recently. And the reason behind this is "over qualifications" of the candidates. The requisite qualification for the post of driver is HSLC (High School Leaving Certificate) or its equivalent. These 80 candidates are highly qualified. This situation depicts a grim picture of the job scenario in the State.

Postgraduate candidates applying for the posts of peon (fourth grade) is a common scene in the State. A top officer at Dispur said, "We've advertised for the filling up of a few fourth grade posts recently. The requisite qualification of the post is HSLC. However, we've received a large number of applications from postgraduate and ITI-passed candidates. If we recruit such candidates for fourth grade posts, where will the HSLC-passed candidates go?"

Talking to this reporter, Ranjit Kalita (name changed) said, "I'm a postgraduate. I'm not getting any job that suits my qualification. Hunger pangs have led me to apply for even the post of peon. I've nothing to be ashamed of it. " Official records in 2018 put the number of unemployed engineering graduates at around 8,000; agricultural graduates at 300; veterinary graduates at 335; ITI (Industrial Training Institute)-passed at 16,500; postgraduates at 17,000; graduates at around 3.30 lakh and HSLC passed at around 5.90 lakh in the State.

A sorry state of affairs on the job scenario across the State is that the mismatch between the number of jobseekers and jobs has been worsening every passing year. According to official records, the unemployment rate in the State was 2.9 per cent in 2014 and that rose to 7.9 per cent in 2018. By now, the rate might have gone much higher.

The situation in the State is heavily loaded against the jobseekers. The major establishments that absorb jobseekers in the State are various departments of the State government. Such people are on the trail of government jobs as the State has little job avenues in the industrial units that cut a sorry figure when it comes to job security. From time to time, the State government doles out some amounts for self-employment and organizes training for honing skills so as to enhance jobseekers' employability. But these are a minuscule fragment of the whole problem. The situation leaves enough holes for brokers to mint money with the promise of giving jobs to jobseekers through unfair means. In fact, it has become a roaring business for brokers who bleed the jobseekers dry. A glaring example is the recent SI recruitment scam in the State. Many states, including Gujarat and West Bengal, have State employment portals that have all advertisements for the filling up of vacancies in various govenrment departments. Jobseekers can also register their names in such portals. This system enables private companies to pick jobseekers from such portals based on their skill sets. Even the results of govenrment examinations and interviews are declared in such portals. Sadly enough, the Assam government is still to have such a portal. Even now jobseekers in Assam have to stand in queue to register their names in their respective employment exchange offices.