How numbers can lie at Delhi govt’s job fair

Believe it or not, but the Delhi government does not have any record of the number of youth employed today because of the two job summits it had organised last year.

While the Delhi government claims to have employed about 12,000 youth through these summits, it concealed a vital piece of information — the number of those who were merely “shortlisted” for jobs and are yet to clear important processes like interviews or get offer letters.

According to records with the Directorate of Employment, the first job fair, held from August 1-8, “offered” jobs to 2,100 people. But, there is no data indicating how many of them continue to be employed.

The government was in a better position when it came to the massive employment fair held from November 16 to December 9. It claimed to have given employment to 10,000 people (12,000, if jobs offered through the District Employment Exchanges are also counted). For this event, the department had to maintain a record. It states that nearly 1,500 people of 10,000 finally got offer letters and took the jobs.

Thus, the second job fair failed to give employment to 85 per cent of the “shortlisted” people. This, when Delhi has 1.3 lakh unemployed people registered with the Directorate of Employment as of February 2016.

Acknowledging this, Special Commissioner (Employment) R.C. Meena told

The Hindu that follow-up with those who actually took the jobs was difficult owing to lack of manpower.

“It is true that there is no record of the number of people who are still employed. The only way for us to track them is through the mobile numbers they provided while filling the forms. But many change their numbers,” he said.

Stakeholders unpaid

Surprisingly, the stakeholders who had invested in the mega fair at Thyagraj stadium last year are yet to get their due share of payment from the Delhi government. This amount accrues to about Rs.22 lakh.

Officials have admitted that the previous job summits had loopholes. While several companies backed out after giving commitment of recruiting, hundreds of people too opted out of the job offers.

“Some failed to meet employer expectations, while others did not take up the jobs as they were not close to their home or did not meet their expectation. Others left their jobs as they either paid less or the work was not as per their liking,” explained a senior official in the Directorate.

Despite the failure of the last two events, the Delhi government is now planning to host a third job summit.

“It will be robust summit this time. We are preparing a software to enable us keep track of each person employed through the fair. We will then divide all the registered unemployed people into categories based on their level of skill and education. This will help us determine what jobs are best suited and available for them. This is to prevent them from resigning from their jobs,” informed Mr Meena.

The dates for the next summit are yet to be finalised.

Attempts to speak to Labour and Employment Minister Gopal Rai failed as he is undergoing treatment at a city hospital.

Govt claims 12,000 gained employment, but figure is that of those who were merely “shortlisted”