Jobs aplenty but north India lacks quality candidates, says minister

Sparking a major controversy, Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has claimed that though there was no dearth of employment opportunities in the country, recruiters complain of lack of “quality people” in north India to fill vacancies.

Addressing reporters in his Lok Sabha constituency, Bareilly, Gangwar on Saturday (September 14) said, “Recruiters who visit north India complain of facing dearth of quality people for the posts they need to fill.”

“The issue of employment keep figuring in newspapers these days. I am handling the same ministry for labour and employment and examine the issue daily. I have understood the problem,” he said.

His remark comes after a data released in May revealed that India’s unemployment rate has risen to 45-year high of 6.1% in 2017-18.

#WATCH MoS Labour & Employment, Santosh K Gangwar says, "Desh mein rozgaar ki kami nahi hai. Humare Uttar Bharat mein jo recruitment karne aate hain is baat ka sawaal karte hain ki jis padd (position) ke liye hum rakh rahe hain uski quality ka vyakti humein kum milta hai." (14/9) pic.twitter.com/qQtEQA89zg

— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2019

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Meanwhile, Gangwar’s remark triggered a controversy among several section of politicians, including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who claimed that the government was resorting to blame game due to the current economic slowdown.

“Mr Minister, it has been more than five years for your government. There is no job creation. Whatever jobs were there, they have been snatched due to the economic slowdown brought by the government. You want to escape by insulting North Indians,” the Congress general secretary said.

She added that the youth are looking forward towards the government hoping that it will do something good for them.

Echoing a similar view, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati labelled Gangwar’s comments as laughable.

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देश में छाई आर्थिक मंदी आदि की गंभीर समस्या के सम्बंध में केन्द्रीय मंत्रियों के अलग-अलग हास्यास्पद बयानों के बाद अब देश व खासकर उत्तर भारतीयों की बेरोजगारी दूर करने के बजाए यह कहना कि रोजगार की कमी नहीं बल्कि योग्यता की कमी है, अति-शर्मनाक है जिसके लिए देश से माफी मांगनी चाहिए।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) September 15, 2019

“After the different laughable statement by different union ministers on the serious issue of economic slowdown, instead of removing unemployment in the country now it is being said that there is no shortage of jobs, but of competence, especially amongst north Indians. This is extremely shameful and an apology should be tendered to the nation,” she tweeted.

Mayawati was referring to union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark last week wherein she blamed millennials preferring Uber and Ola for the slump in car sales across the country. Thereafter, union minister Piyush Goyal too was trolled on social media for wrongfully crediting Albert Einstein for the discovery of gravity during a press conference.

(With inputs from agencies)