SHILLONG, Aug 27: UDP MLA from Amlarem, Lahkmen Rymbui on Tuesday blamed political leaders for misleading the youth by claiming that review of the state reservation policy is a solution to the unemployment scenario in Meghalaya.
Moving a special motion on the gravity of the unemployment scenario in the state and the way to tackle it, Rymbui pointed out that the House had rejected a bill (introduced by VPP MLA Adelbert Nongrum) to categorise economic weaker groups within the Schedule Tribe category.
According to him, this is a dangerous move since it is an attempt to divide the members of the Hynniewtrep community and the state as a whole.
Rymbui mentioned that there is a clause in the Supreme Court ruling which speaks on reservation for the sub-tribe.
“I will demand reservation for the War people. There will be leaders who will demand reservation for the Maram and Lyngngam. It is not going to end since there will soon be demand for reservation for the sub-tribes in Garo Hills like the A’tong and Megam,” the UDP MLA said, while stating that instead of giving false hopes to the youth, they should be encouraged to create a competitive mindset and be ready to fight the global market.
Rymbui said unemployment among the youth is a ticking time bomb and it is a pressing concern that needs to be addressed immediately.
He said that the government and all the stakeholders need to collectively come together to fight unemployment in the society.
Quoting recent data, he said Meghalaya has one of the highest unemployment rates in India with a considerable amount of the youth population being unable to find jobs.
He also observed the growing dependency on government jobs which are saturated with only a few hundred posts opening every year.
Rymbui said there is a common misconception among the youth that government jobs are only reserved for those who have high-level connections.
“It is our job as the government to clear this misconception. I am glad that the recent recruitments by the Health, Education and Police departments have more or less satisfied the aspirants,” he said.
In his reply, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said the unemployment rate in Meghalaya was 6.0% as per the latest figures provided by the Periodic Labour Force Survey.
He said it is crucial to note that this figure is one year old and does not accurately represent the current employment dynamics of FY24.
“Hence, to understand the current situation of employment in the state, we can refer to the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE) database, which provides latest figures for Unemployment till January 2024, and updates them monthly. The latest CMIE data for 2024 indicates that unemployment rate for Meghalaya stands at 2.98%, which is below the national average of 6.78%,” he said.
Tynsong further said that as per the CMIE, over the seven-year period of 2017-24, unemployment rates in Meghalaya have shown a generally decreasing trend, starting at a high of 8.8% in 2017-18 and reaching a low of 1.9% in 2021-22.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the average unemployment rate for Meghalaya is 3.9%, while for India is substantially higher at 7%. “Also, the PLFS data for Meghalaya indicates stability with an average unemployment rate of 2.9% as compared to overall national average rate of 4.7%, during the same period. Meghalaya’s unemployment rate is consistently lower than the national average, among both data sources. The data indicates that Meghalaya’s labour market has been more resilient and possibly more dynamic in creating and sustaining employment opportunities compared to the national scenario,” he said.
Tynsong admitted that curbing unemployment is a complex issue that typically requires a multifaceted approach, and the government is taking concerted efforts to provide gainful employment to its citizens.
“Focus is being made to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth in the different sectors of economy such as agriculture and livestock, industries, and various services through entrepreneurship development, capacity building and training, business enterprise promotion, market linkages, value chain development,” Tynsong said.
He informed that the government is also taking steps for promotion of sectors which can create job opportunities like hospitality, tourism, organic farming, food processing, arts and crafts, music and sports.
Further, Tynsong told the House that the government aims to generate an additional 5 lakh employment opportunities by 2028.
According to him, 2.3 lakh of these the opportunities are going to come from agriculture and allied activities alone followed by trade, hotels and transportation, which are expected to create 1.5 lakh opportunities.
“Construction and manufacturing respectively will account for 53,000 and 23,000 employment opportunities. Mining and electricity will together create 7,500 employment opportunities while real estate will employ 2,500 people,” he added.
