The number of unemployed youth has been increasing rapidly in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The rise in unemployment rate from 28 to 56 in last one year, reflects an increase in the number of people looking for a job in the city.
According to the Annual Employment and Unemployment Survey report for 2012-13 released by labour Bureau recently, the overall unemployment rate stands at 56 (per 1,000 persons aged 15 years and above) while in 2011-12, the overall unemployment rate was 28.
The unemployment rate in case of Scheduled castes and OBCs has witnessed a staggering increase. From 6 persons in 2011-12 to staggering 151 per thousand in 2012-13, the unemployment rate among Scheduled castes in Chandigarh is the highest in the northern region.
The unemployment rate in backward classes has increased from 42 in 2011-12 to 124 persons in 2012-14, as per the statistics of survey report by labour Bureau.
The unemployment rate in general category is stated to be 40 in Chandigarh. Besides, the unemployment rate was found to be higher in females as compared to males in the city. The unemployment rate of females is 88 in one thousand while in males, it is 50, according to the survey.
While union territories like Daman & Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli have registered low unemployment rate of 12 each, the startling unemployment figures come as a major disappointment for the union territory of Chandigarh.
The overall unemployment rate in other northern states is 88 in Jammu and Kashmir, 63 in Himachal Pradesh and 48 each in Punjab and Haryana. According to the labour bureau survey, Sikkim has registered the highest unemployment rate of 136 while country’s unemployment rate stands at 4.7 percent.
Notably, a large number of medical and engineering graduates are out of work in Chandigarh. As per the data available with UT regional employment exchange, more than 3,000 jobless medical and engineering graduates of Chandigarh are registered with it.
A senior official of the regional employment exchange said that the unemployment rate in the union territory of Chandigarh is increasing rapidly. Every year, a large number of jobless graduates and post graduates are registered with the exchange seeking employment assistance. This includes hundreds of jobless engineers, doctors, MCAs, MBAs among others, the official added.
The number of jobless applicants on the live register of the regional employment exchange currently stands at 33,866. The statistics tabulated by the regional employment exchange also stated that 3210 applicants of professional and executive standard like doctors, engineers, MCA etc are in a queue in a hope to get a job.
A decade back, a total of about 1,000 postgraduates and graduates were registered with the exchange. But, now every year over 1,000 unemployed post graduates and graduates are registered with the exchange, stated the data.
It is believed that the large number of unaccredited private educational institutions across the region is churning out thousands of graduates every year contributing to escalating figures of jobless youth in the region.