The Delhi's Employment Exchange (DDE) today suffers from an identity crisis and is facing an uphill task ahead to survive in a market driven by competition by private job sites.
NEW DELHI: Established after the Second World War in 1945 with the main objective of resettling soldiers returning from the war, the Delhi's Employment Exchange (DDE) today suffers from an identity crisis and is facing an uphill task ahead to survive in a market driven by competition by private job sites.
One of the biggest exchanges in the country, the DDE has a network of nine district exchanges and five zonal offices all of them falling under Delhi Government's Directorate of Employment, which handles the network and works with a total staff of 250.
The success rate of exchange is a low 0.5 per cent, which is less than the national average, says, Joint Director, K C Aggarwal DDE.
On the contrary, a leading online job website, Timesjobs.com, claims they have a database of 6.5 million job seekers and the success rate of giving placement in a month is 10-15 per cent.
"More than 20,000 recruiters visit our resume pool daily to choose the best suitable candidate," says head of marketing of Timesjobs.com. Rajat Gandhi.
Officials at DDE claim that when both the private sector and various public sector recruitment agencies are actively providing the services to applicants, it has been increasingly difficult for a jobseeker to find employment through the exchange.
"Earlier our prime work was to make placements with public sector undertakings (PSUs). But now, the staff selection commission, the railway recruitment board and other recruiting agencies do the job for PSUs," says Aggarwal.
It is rarity these days to get a job through employment exchanges as most of the government job vacancies are published by advertisements in the newspapers and magazines or through different channels.
"It's not like we are not doing our work. But where are the jobs? Most of the jobs are in industrial areas like Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida and we don't have an access liable database," says Aggarwal.
Jobs have 'dried up' at the exchange but there are still some who visit these Employment Exchanges on a regular basis to know about their marginal chances in the job market.
Rajesh Pandey, an applicant at the employment exchange, says, "I sat for the Bank clerical exams twice but couldn't get through. My father thinks that it is best to have a government job in hand because there the job is secure. I registered myself at the employment exchange just to please him."
Most of the people who come for the registration at the exchange belong to the lower income group.
According to Labour Ministry report, out of total 947 Employment Exchanges in India, only 346 have been computerized.
It is not that the Delhi Government is not doing anything to revive the past glory of the employment exchange. They have experimented in the past with mega plans of computerization and restructuring the employment exchange but could not achieve much.
"We provide online facility to the job seekers who want to apply via internet but still we still don't have implemented placement notification service," says B P Khurana, a councilor at Pusa Road Exchange.
Delhi Minister for Labour and Employment has recently launched "Choose your career campaign" to motivate school and college students to choose the right career path depending upon their abilities.
"This campaign will give information on academic and professional courses, apprenticeship training, skill training in different universities, poly-techniques and impart vocational guidance through display of career literatures," says Khurana.
"Our focus is on students who for some reasons failed to continue the study and want a career counseling to get to know the particular areas in which they can excel. We are holding this campaign at nine employment exchanges and three University Employment Information and Guidance Bureau," he adds.
It would also provide employment market scenario and encourage candidates to take up self-employment as an option
to wage paid employment, he says.
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