BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
The Congress-led United Democratic Front, which came to power in 2001, had promised employment to 1.5 million youths but could not provide jobs for even 50 persons, Leader of Opposition VS Achuthanandan had said as he campaigned in the 2006 elections, which was to put him in the Chief Minister's seat.
As his Left Democratic Front government enters the last leg of its five-year term, unemployed youths are still looking for jobs that are not there.
The Smart City project, which the state government was to set up with the help of TECOM Investments of Dubai, was expected to create at least 100,000 jobs, mostly in the information technology sector.
It remains stalled by a dispute between the Dubai firm and the government over the status of a small part of the land earmarked for it.
On Saturday Achuthanandan held aloft another carrot before jobseekers. 110,000 IT-related jobs will be created with the help of a global consultancy firm, he said.
Official statistics indicate that there has been only a small increase in employment in the entire organised sector since the LDF came to power. In March 2006, the public and private sectors together provided employment to 1.10 million people in the state.
The corresponding figure for December 2008 was 1.13 million -- a modest gain of 30,000 jobs. In the public sector, the state's biggest employer, there was actually loss of jobs, with employment falling from 616,000 in 2006 to 607,000 in 2008. Employment in the private sector, however, went up from 485,000 to 524,000.
The state government accounted for 43.85 per cent of the public sector employment, the central government for 10.41 per cent, quasi-government institutions for 41.38 per cent and local bodies for 4.36 per cent.
Job loss in the public sector is a continuing phenomenon. In 2001, more than 645,000 people were employed in this sector. More than 4.5 million people are seeking jobs through the employment exchanges.
In 2000, the exchanges provided government jobs to more than 23,000 persons. In the following years the number declined, touching an all-time low of 8,711 in 2004. More than 10,000 were given jobs in 2005 but the number dropped to four digits again in 2006.
On March 31, more than 20,000 state government employees retired, raising a flicker of hope in the minds of jobseekers. Most of the vacancies that have arisen are to be filled by promotion. Once that process is completed, the government will notify the vacancies at direct entry level, which may number just a few thousands.
The en masse retirement was the result of the government's decision to shift the retirement date of all employees who reached the age of superannuation during the financial year to the last day of the year.
Life expectancy at birth in Kerala is 75 years, the highest in the country. Retirement age of state government employees is 55 years, the lowest in the country. Decades ago the retirement age was raised to 58 years but it was lowered again to increase employment opportunities.
Successive governments have turned a blind eye to the colossal waste of human resources involved in early retirement of employees for fear of offending the vast army of unemployed youths. The Communist Party of India-Marxist, which heads the LDF, is more wary than other parties as the Democratic Youth Federation of India, which it controls, has more than 4.6 million members in the state, many of them jobless.
By pushing the retirement age to the last day of the financial year the cash-strapped government could delay pension payments and earn a brief respite. It is estimated the measure helped it to save Rs15 billion during the year. The chicken will come home to roost in the financial year which has just begun.
60 per cent of the jobseekers on the register of the employment exchanges have only passed the school leaving certificate examination. The government has dashed their hopes by raising the educational qualification for recruitment to some posts, including that of police constable, to pre-degree.
The jobseekers' best hope lies in migration, and the Gulf region remains the most favoured destination. The number of Keralites employed in the Gulf States rose from 1.36 million in 1998 to 2.19 million in 2008, the last year for which figures are available. That makes for 29 migrants for every 100 households.--Gulf Today, Sharjah, April 5, 2010.
Showing posts with label UNEMPLOYMENT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UNEMPLOYMENT. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Two more years of education will not make a better policeman
THE police is one of the fastest growing government outfits in Kerala. Fifteen years ago, its strength was below 25,000. Now it is above 42,000. It is doubtful if any other department has grown as fast during this period.
As society progresses, crime goes up. This has been the experience worldwide. To deal with growing crime, the police force has to grow proportionately. Judging by standards adopted by modern societies, the State police force is small. But, then, it is not enough to raise the strength of the police. Its performance must also improve. However, the authorities do not take as much interest in qualitative growth as in quantitative growth.
At present, the minimum educational qualification for recruitment to the police is the Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has stated that the government proposes to raise this. Youth organizations, which stand in the way of raising the age of superannuation from 55 years on the ground that it will result in loss of employment opportunities, have not responded to this. The minister’s justification for revision of educational qualification is that 60% of those selected in the last round of recruitment were graduates.
Of the four million registered jobseekers in Kerala, one and a half per cent, that is about 60,000, are postgraduates. With so many postgraduates wandering in search of jobs, there maybe enough takers even if the government prescribes post-graduation as the minimum qualification for recruitment as police constable. That, however, is no justification for doing it.
As is clear from the minister’s statement, despite the onrush by degree holders, those without degrees got 40% of the posts. About 60% of the jobseekers, that is about 2.4 million people, have only studied up to SSLC. It is unjust to make such a large number ineligible for the post of police constable.
The popular impression that there is a serious problem of educated unemployment in Kerala is not correct. According to the figures of 2005, given in the Economic Report, which was presented to the State Assembly this year, 76.5% of the jobseekers have educational qualifications of SSLC or less. The Information Technology and tourism sectors in which the government and the people place hope will not do much good to those with such low educational qualifications. Doors now available to them must not be closed without opening new ones.
When A. K. Antony was Chief Minister, the police was given freedom of action and a commission with former Supreme Court judge K. T. Thomas as chairman and former Additional Chief Secretary T. N. Jayachandran and former Director General of Police K. V. Rajagopalan Nair as members was appointed to study the performance and accountability of the police force and make recommendations. Raising the educational qualification for recruitment from SSLC to Pre-degree Course was one of the measures the commission proposed. It is not known whether it was of the view that a person who has studied for two more years will make a better policeman. There is no basis for such a belief. That human quality improves with education is a superstition prevalent among the educated.
The Home Minister revealed in the Assembly recently that 607 members of the police force are facing criminal charges, including rape and murder. That one out of 70 policemen is involved in criminal cases is not something that can be lightly dismissed. Those at the helm of the force are persons with high educational qualifications. Since there are persons with criminal tendencies even among them, we cannot assume that a higher entry qualification will lead to a better police force.
Besides raising the educational qualification, the K. T. Thomas Commission proposed some other measures, too, to improve the performance of the police. These included lowering the maximum age limit for recruitment from 30 years to 25 and the creation of a new agency for recruitment. Some of these are also under the government’s consideration. There is one topic that merits even greater attention than these: better training. We have a police set-up devised by foreign rulers and the maharajas to meet their needs. It has still not been recast in keeping with the requirements of a democratic society. Meanwhile political infiltration in the police force is taking place. The police still follows the colonial-feudal tradition of protecting wrongdoers in its ranks. This is possible because democratic regimes are willing to accept the argument that the morale of the force will be affected if action is taken against them.
Based on article appearing in “Nerkkazhcha” column of Kerala Kaumudi dated October 18, 2007.
As society progresses, crime goes up. This has been the experience worldwide. To deal with growing crime, the police force has to grow proportionately. Judging by standards adopted by modern societies, the State police force is small. But, then, it is not enough to raise the strength of the police. Its performance must also improve. However, the authorities do not take as much interest in qualitative growth as in quantitative growth.
At present, the minimum educational qualification for recruitment to the police is the Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has stated that the government proposes to raise this. Youth organizations, which stand in the way of raising the age of superannuation from 55 years on the ground that it will result in loss of employment opportunities, have not responded to this. The minister’s justification for revision of educational qualification is that 60% of those selected in the last round of recruitment were graduates.
Of the four million registered jobseekers in Kerala, one and a half per cent, that is about 60,000, are postgraduates. With so many postgraduates wandering in search of jobs, there maybe enough takers even if the government prescribes post-graduation as the minimum qualification for recruitment as police constable. That, however, is no justification for doing it.
As is clear from the minister’s statement, despite the onrush by degree holders, those without degrees got 40% of the posts. About 60% of the jobseekers, that is about 2.4 million people, have only studied up to SSLC. It is unjust to make such a large number ineligible for the post of police constable.
The popular impression that there is a serious problem of educated unemployment in Kerala is not correct. According to the figures of 2005, given in the Economic Report, which was presented to the State Assembly this year, 76.5% of the jobseekers have educational qualifications of SSLC or less. The Information Technology and tourism sectors in which the government and the people place hope will not do much good to those with such low educational qualifications. Doors now available to them must not be closed without opening new ones.
When A. K. Antony was Chief Minister, the police was given freedom of action and a commission with former Supreme Court judge K. T. Thomas as chairman and former Additional Chief Secretary T. N. Jayachandran and former Director General of Police K. V. Rajagopalan Nair as members was appointed to study the performance and accountability of the police force and make recommendations. Raising the educational qualification for recruitment from SSLC to Pre-degree Course was one of the measures the commission proposed. It is not known whether it was of the view that a person who has studied for two more years will make a better policeman. There is no basis for such a belief. That human quality improves with education is a superstition prevalent among the educated.
The Home Minister revealed in the Assembly recently that 607 members of the police force are facing criminal charges, including rape and murder. That one out of 70 policemen is involved in criminal cases is not something that can be lightly dismissed. Those at the helm of the force are persons with high educational qualifications. Since there are persons with criminal tendencies even among them, we cannot assume that a higher entry qualification will lead to a better police force.
Besides raising the educational qualification, the K. T. Thomas Commission proposed some other measures, too, to improve the performance of the police. These included lowering the maximum age limit for recruitment from 30 years to 25 and the creation of a new agency for recruitment. Some of these are also under the government’s consideration. There is one topic that merits even greater attention than these: better training. We have a police set-up devised by foreign rulers and the maharajas to meet their needs. It has still not been recast in keeping with the requirements of a democratic society. Meanwhile political infiltration in the police force is taking place. The police still follows the colonial-feudal tradition of protecting wrongdoers in its ranks. This is possible because democratic regimes are willing to accept the argument that the morale of the force will be affected if action is taken against them.
Based on article appearing in “Nerkkazhcha” column of Kerala Kaumudi dated October 18, 2007.
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