North Indian candidates lack qualification, not job opportunities: Santosh Gangwar

Claiming that there is no dearth of job opportunities in the country, Union Minister Santosh Gangwar said that there is lack of qualifications among North Indian candidates.

"I want to say that there is no dearth of job opportunities in the country. Those who come for recruitment in north India often complain that they are unable to find the quality in candidates required for the post they are hiring for," said Gangwar, MoS (Independent Charge), Ministry of Labour and Employment while addressing a press conference here on Saturday.

"I am looking after the same ministry and I monitor the situation on a daily basis. There is no dearth of employment in the country. We have employment exchanges for a purpose and we have also developed a separate system. Our ministry monitors the situation," Gangwar added.

His statement came at a time when the economy slumped to a seven-year low of 5 per cent in April to June quarter from 8 per cent a year ago. The economic slowdown coupled with employment has raised concern among economists and politicians who are holding centre responsible for it.

The slowdown was largely due to a sharp dip in the manufacturing sector and agriculture output, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had said in a statement.