Are the claims of employment generation by the government backed by data?
23 Dec, 2012The state government of Gujarat had claimed to provide employment to 65, 000 youths as a part of Swami Vivekananda youth employment week organized in February, 2012. However, the reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that the state government has provided apprenticeship to most of the youths rather than permanent employment.
The data provided in the reply shows that out of 51,587 beneficiaries, 11,172 were appointed as apprentices, which as per the labour laws, are not considered employees of the company and hence don’t get any benefits apart from the remuneration.
Overall, around 31 per cent of the beneficiaries have been posted as apprentices, 19 per cent as workers, 12 per cent as helpers, 13 per cent as skilled labour, 6 per cent as officers, 1 per cent as semi-skilled, 2 per cent as engineers and nine per cent in other categories.