UP: Youth Organisations Protest Against Unemployment, Demand CM Fill Up Vacant Posts

Lucknow: Various students and youth organisations on Friday launched a state-wide movement against rising unemployment in the country's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, demanding that the Yogi Adityanath-led government fill up the state's 25 lakh vacant jobs.

The protesters announced that they would spread the movement against unemployment and privatisation across the state under the aegis of Chhatr Yuva Rozgar Adhikar Morcha, ahead of the next assembly elections. The youth organisation kicked off its movement with the conference called 'Rozgar Adhikar Sammelan' in Lucknow on September 24, Friday. 

Several Opposition leaders attended the conference and demanded the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to declare "Employment with Dignity" as a "fundamental right" of every educated youth.  

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) CPI (ML) lawmaker from Bihar, Manoj Manzil, condemned the repressive policies of the UP government against social movements. He said that the employment crisis in the state is growing day by day. "UP is home to 10% of the total unemployed youth in the country. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, a large number of people lost their jobs," he claimed. 

National Coordinator of All India Women Congress Sadaf Jafar extended support to the movement, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Adityanath should step down from their posts if they are not capable of addressing the issues of youths.

Jafar further said, "The government is arranging money by selling public sector enterprises and spending it on unuseful projects like the Central Vista." She also urged that all the Opposition parties should come together on one platform to support the student-youth movement. 

Highlighting the fundamental rights of citizens, professor D.N.S. Yadav of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said, "It is a fundamental right of youths of the country that they question the democratically elected government about employment." The AAP leader also said that to hide the data on unemployment, the labour ministry discontinued its employment survey, and now the government is clueless about the joblessness in the country. 

Also read: A (Failed) Quest To Obtain India’s Missing Jobs Data

Kamlesh Bharti of the Azad Samaj Party opined that the nexus between the government and corporates deepened the unemployment crisis in the country. He added that the BJP governments are also diluting the reservation system in government jobs. 

Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ambuj Patel expressed apprehension that the BJP could create a rift between Hindus and Muslims to dilute the movement against unemployment. Therefore, he asked the youths not to indulge in any communal or casteist issues, and keep employment and education as their priority. 

Rozgar Adhikar Sammelan in Lucknow, on September 24. Photo: Asad Rizvi

While addressing the gathering of students, prominent critic Virendra Yadav said, "A movement for employment is a fight to save the country". He said that the graph from economy and health to freedom of expression has come down. "Our dream of the 'mixed economy' is destroyed by corporates." 

Former IAS Surya Pratap Singh also spoke to the group of disgruntled students and youth, saying, "This movement is not about changing the government but it is about the future of youth." Such movements would continue if the new government also turns a blind eye to the issues faced by students and youths. 

N. Sai Balaji, president of the All India Students Association (AISA), called for supporting the ongoing farmers' protest. "We also support the call for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on September 27, by the farmers’ unions." 

According to Balaji, who was also the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University student union, the next leg of the movement would also see a "signature campaign" in the state. 

The former JNU president pointed out that suicides in India due to unemployment have increased by 24% from 2016 to 2019. Calling out chief minister Adityanath’s statement that unemployment rates have fallen dramatically in the state, he demanded that the government stop fudging job-loss data and acknowledge the crisis of joblessness in the state.

Also read: Modinomics’ Legacy ― Labour Traffic Now Flows From Factories to Farms

Posts lying vacant

As per data compiled by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Uttar Pradesh topped all states with maximum 111,865 police posts lying vacant against a sanctioned strength of 415.315. 

According to calculations, around 25 lakh vacancies are yet to be filled in the state. The Adityanath government should immediately advertise it and complete the recruitment process as soon as possible," he added.

"The BJP promised to give seven million jobs before the 2017 state assembly elections and gave merely 400,000 jobs only," he added. The government is also not giving a list of beneficiaries who got jobs. Balaji added that the BJP is also crushing social justice in jobs and its recent example is the alleged teacher recruitment scam.

As a part of the movement, Chhatr Yuva Rozgar Adhikar Morcha will celebrate the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh on September 28 as "Employment Rights Day". To intensify the movement across the state, 10,000 volunteers from different student and youth organisations will be inducted into the Morcha and rally in various towns between October 20-30. 

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