Two lakh engineers unemployed; govt to create 15 million jobs

Nearly two lakh engineers and 1.32 lakh diploma holders were unemployed in 2007, the ministry of labour and employment told the Lok Sabha today and said 15 million jobs would be created in public and private sectors by the end of Eleventh Plan.
    
However, these number are likely to have gone up with several engineers and diploma holders loosing their jobs during the on-going recession.
    
Minister of state for labour and employment, Harish Rawat informed the Lok Sabha that 1.93 lakh engineers were unemployed in 2007. The number of diploma holders looking for a job in the same year was 1.32 lakh.
    
The number of unemployed engineers has been growing steadily since 2003 -- with 2006 being an exception.
    
While in 2003, there were 82,000 unemployed engineers, the figure rose to 1.12 lakh in 2005. However, in 2006 it fell to 48,000.
    
The number of jobless diploma holders in 2003 was 1.31 lakh and 1.07 lakh in 2005. In 2006, it was 45,000.
    
Rawat said the 11th Plan aims at increasing private organised sector employment by at least 10 million to provide jobs to educated unemployed.
    
"Along with the public sector, organised sector jobs would then expand by over 15 million, a growth rate of about nine per cent per annum," Rawat said.