The problem of unemployment means the problem of providing work to those who are willing to work. A large number of educated and uneducated people, who are capable of work and are also willing to do it, roam here and there without any job. So the problem has assumed an acute form.
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There is a large number of people who are either partly employed or wholly unemployed. The lives of such people, as well as of their families, are extremely miserable. India cannot claim to be a welfare state so long as this problem remains unsolved. Before discussing the ways and means of solving this problem, let us first examine the causes which have created it.
It is a well known fact that ours is a thickly populated country. The population is increasing by leaps and bounds. But jobs and gainful avenues cannot be created in the same proportion. So, naturally, a large section of the people is left unemployed. Moreover, our education system is also responsible for this problem. The problem of educated unemployment is peculiar to India. India is only country in the world where even highly educated persons fail to to get employment. Every year thousands and thousands of graduates pass out of schools and colleges. They are unfit for any work, except office work. All of them cannot be absorbed in services. This increases employment.
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The problem of unemployment is mainly an economic one. It is essential, therefore, that the economic policy of the country be overhauled. In our country, labor is available in abundance. We should provide avenues for employment for them through cottage and small-scale industries. besides this, stress must be laid on family planning. Every effort must be made to check the rapid rise in population. This will help a great deal in the solution of this problem.
More stress should be laid on technical and vocational education. The present bookish education which produces clerks alone should be restricted. When people get technical and vocational education, they will not hanker after services on completing their education, they will come out well prepared to stand on their own legs. The problem will be half-solved, if this suggestion is implemented.
Our joint-family system is gradually breaking down. This may be a good social change from certain points of view, but front the point of view of unemployment it is harmful. When we live jointly, some family members get employed in family professions. One who gets a job, supports others who may not be equally fortunate. We should not be hasty in breaking down this system.
Our country cannot advance economically, politically, or socially, unless this problem is solved. Many a social evil is spread through the unemployed. Frustration, drug-addiction, even suicides are, by and large, the evil results of unemployment. Unrest and disorder increase in society. It is, therefore, the duty of the Government to make every possible effort to solve this problem. However, we may stress again that the problem cannot be solved till the population explosion is not checked. The two are closely inter-linked, and the people must be made to realize this through and adequate process of social education. We are happy to note that the government has come out with a plan to provide employment to educated young men during the ninth plan period.