By Prarthana Mitra
In a bid to tackle the rising unemployment among the youth of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu launched the Mukyamantri Yuva Nestam scheme on Tuesday.
In keeping with the Telugu Desam Party’s electoral promises, Naidu promised a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for at least 2.08 lakh unemployed youth, to support and help them achieve their goals. This comes at a time when educated and skilled unemployment has festered into severe socio-economic problems among the nation’s youth.
Here’s what happened
Around 6 lakh people applied for the scheme online, according to sources, even after the government barred candidates hailing the land-owning families. Later, however, an exception was made with respect to unemployed youth with ‘White Ration Card’.
At the formal event on Tuesday, Naidu announced the names of the chosen candidates and handed out certificates to all eligible unemployed youths. He interacted with several youths and students about career and employment prospects after the event, which invited participation from several private companies that had the potential to provide ample employment. IT Minister Nara Lokesh and other MLAs also participated in the programme.
Why it matters
While he encouraged the youth to make the fullest use of opportunities that come their way and stressed on the importance of “struggle” and effort” for success, Naidu also acknowledged the steadily increasing unemployment problem of India.
According to Huffpost India, the present rate of unemployment is the highest seen in India in at least the last 20 years. The acute shortage of jobs is further compounded by depressed wages, with 82% of men and 92% of women earning less than Rs 10,000 per month.
TDP’s move, therefore, comes at a crucial time before the upcoming elections, and just after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claims to eradicate unemployment came under massive scrutiny. It is also worth noting that TDP defected from the BJP-NDA alliance earlier this year, in a national fallout.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius