The State Government that has ‘badly’ failed to address the unemployment issue, has now also become unable to ensure timely disbursement of the ‘minimum’ financial assistance that it grants to unemployed youths in terms of unemployment allowance every month.
The matter of concern is that during the past five months since April 2014, the unemployed youths enrolled with the Directorate of Employment Exchange Department, Haldwani, have not received any financial assistance in terms of unemployment allowance.
A proposal demanding about Rs 18 crore for distribution among the unemployed youths in the first quarter of the current financial year i.e. June 2014, has already been submitted to the Government, said Chandra Kanta, Assistant Director, Directorate of Employment Exchange Department, Haldwani, while talking to The Pioneer.
As soon as the amount is released by the Government, it would be disbursed among the eligible unemployed youths enrolled with the employment exchange department, she added. Presently, as the officials concerned informed, about 28,000 unemployed youths from across the State are covered under the unemployed allowance scheme. Nearly eight lakh unemployed youths are presently enrolled with the State employment exchange department.
It is worth mention here that to provide unemployment allowance to the unemployed youths, was one of the major poll planks of the ruling State Congress party in 2012 State assembly elections.
The much publicised unemployment allowance scheme, definitely saw the ruling State Congress party’s return to power in Uttarakhand in 2012, but it seems to have not so encouraging for the unemployed youths enrolled with the State employment exchange department due to delay in disbursement of the allowance.
Presently unemployed youths with educational qualifications i.e. intermediate, graduation and post graduation levels are entitled to benefit from this unemployment allowance scheme.
And the State Government revised the unemployment scheme in June 2013 raising the unemployment allowance upto Rs 750 from Rs 500 for the unemployed youths with intermediate standard educational qualification.
Similarly, the graduate unemployed youths were given a raise of Rs 250 revising their unemployment allowance from Rs 750 to Rs 1,000 in June 2012 and the postgraduate unemployed youths’ unemployment allowance was raised upto Rs 1,500 from Rs 1,000 which was being given initially.
However, when asked whether the amount in terms of unemployment allowance would further be revised for unemployed youths, the officials concerned maintained that presently there is no such information with the department from the Government.
Among other conditions, only the unemployed youths aged between 25 years and 40 years are entitled to avail this scheme. However, there is five year relaxation on age to the students belonging to the weaker sections of the society.
Besides, only those unemployed youths whose family members’ income is less than Rs 2.50 lakh annually are covered under this scheme.