21 lakh registered unemployed in UP says minister

Lucknow, Aug 30: There are more than 21 lakh registered unemployed persons in Uttar Pradesh, Labour and Employment minister Swami Prasad Maurya told the state legislative council today. Replying to a question raised by Congress legislator Deepak Singh during Question Hour, Maurya said, "As on June 30, there were 21,39,811 registered unemployed persons in UP. Through job fairs, the state government is providing employment opportunities to such persons."

"The number of jobs in the government sector are limited, while in the private sector the numbers are very high. The state government organised Investors' Summit in February this year, and in a span of four months projects worth Rs 60,000 crore have started. If the conditions are favourable, then we will give jobs to 33 lakh persons," he added.

Posing a supplementary question, Singh demanded to know why the minister did not give the count of unemployed persons in the state which stood at nearly five crore.

"Apart from this, the BJP in its election manifesto had promised jobs to lakhs of people within 90 days (of coming to power). But, this was not fulfilled," Singh said.

Responding to Singh's barb, Leader of the House Dinesh Sharma said the UP government is recruiting 68,000 teachers in the basic education department, 12,000 teachers in the secondary education department and soon there will be recruitment in the police force.

However, Singh was not satisfied with the reply, and walked out off the house.