More than 12.13 lakh jobless youths, who registered themselves with different employment exchanges in Odisha over the last five years, are waiting for jobs, the state government informed the Assembly on Friday.
In a written reply to BJD MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak, Skill Development and Technical Education Minister Sampad Chandra Swain said 12,13,924 unemployed youths registered their names in the employment exchanges between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
The job aspirants include 3.19 lakh graduates, 51,956 postgraduates, 4.22 lakh intermediates, 1.80 lakh matriculates, 42,916 diploma pass-outs, 74,827 trained teachers, 33,691 ITI pass-outs and 14,750 under-matric students, he said.
Interestingly, 836 medical postgraduates and two medical graduates were also waiting for jobs in the state, the minister added. "During the last five years, the government has given employment to 2,274 youths through the exchanges," he informed.
In another written statement, Swain said, "The state government has provided training to 36,329 youths through placement linked training programme from 2019-20 to 2023-24, of which 15,068 got employment."
"Over 18.42 lakh youths have been made self-employable by providing training under the Chief Minister's Employment Generation Programme during 2014-15 to 2023-24," he added.
To create employment opportunities, "Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) has been organising job fairs.