Expressing concern over the "rising" unemployment problem in Odisha, Opposition BJP and Congress on Thursday said the situation will further aggravate as a large number of people will migrate to other states in search of works in wake of the "drought-like" situation.
The issue was discussed in the Assembly where Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra held both the state's BJD government and NDA government at the Centre "responsible" for the increase in unemployment number in Odisha.
"It will not be out of the place to say that NDA-I government's whimsical demonetization scheme further fueled unemployment problem in the country and also in Odisha. The people lost jobs and added to the vast army of unemployment," he said.
Mishra also criticised the state government for not being able to provide jobs to the youths in the state. "More than 1.31 lakh posts remain vacant in the state government while even educated youths of Odisha are migrating to other places in search of jobs," he said.
Noting that a "hungry man, is an angry man," Mishra said the unemployed youths may take the path of Maoists if the government do not meet their fundamental rights. As such, many unemployed youths have already become drugs addicts, he claimed.
Mishra said, the situation is likely to be acute this time as there are no agricultural activities due to drought like situation. He claimed that 25 lakh agricultural labourers and lakhs of small and marginal farmers will be hit due to the drought like situation.
The people are not provided with work under MGNREGA and whoever gets work, do not get wage at the proper time, he alleged, adding that about 85 lakh people in the working age have no jobs in Odisha.
BJP's deputy leader in Assembly B C Sethi said according to a survey conducted in 2007-08, Odisha has as many as 1.14 crore labourers of whom 10 lakh go on migration to other states.
"As many as 35.4 lakh unemployed youths have registered their names in employment exchange," Sethi said. "This government has betrayed the aspiration of the youths even as people have voted BJD to power five times in a row," Sethi said.
Odisha's Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Premananda Nayak, however, rejected the opposition allegation and claimed that the state government has taken several steps to make people employable by setting up ITIs (industrial training institutes), polytechnics and other avenues.
"Skill development programmes through a sustainable technical and vocational educational eco-system has become one of the flagship schemes of the state government with an overarching mission to bring transformative human development through skilling of youths and making Skilled-in Odisha a global brand," the minister said.
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