West Bengal Governor Mr. M.K. Narayanan said today that food security and employment generation are matters of concern to India. Mr. Narayanan said this while addressing a session at the Pan IIT Alumni Global Conference that began in Kolkata today. He said Food security is a crucial issue and Employment generation is a matter of concern.  He said several steps have been taken to overcome the hurdle. However, he said, that we need perhaps to step up the pace and to give greater impetus to technological and other innovation to give our economy the necessary boost. Mr. Narayanan said, despite adverse external environment, the fundamental part of our economy has remained strong. Mr. Narayanan said, two decade of steady economic reforms have contributed to the material improvement all around in average income and consumption levels. All these have been achieved under a functioning secular democracy. The Pan IIT Alumni Global conference 2012 started in Kolkata today and will continue till the 9th of this month.

In Uttar Pradesh ruling Samajwadi party government launched unemployment allowance scheme on Sunday at a special programme organized in Lucknow. The Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav distributed cheques to ten thousand five hundred unemployed youth hailing from seven districts of Lucknow, Unnao, Hardoi, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Raibareilly and Kanpur Nagar. Under the scheme total allowance of one crore and thirty seven lakh rupees were distributed. The government has decided to give one thousand rupees per month to unemployed youths in the age group of twenty five to forty years having minimum qualification of high school.

Announcement

 The US economy created 96,000 jobs in August. According to official figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 per cent, compared with 8.3 per cent in July. The Bureau said employment increased in food services and drinking places, professional and technical services and healthcare. 

But the figure was lower than expected and revisions to June and July data mean that 41,000 fewer jobs were created than previously reported. Economists had expected non-farm payrolls to grow by 125,000. The percentage of Americans who either have a job or who are looking for one fell to 63.5 per cent, the lowest participation rate since 1981.

The weak figure will put pressure on President Barack Obama in his re-election campaign, given than rival Mitt Romney has put jobs at the centre of the national debate.

collieryकोयला-खान Unemployment across the 17-nation eurozone hit a record 18 million in July. The EU statistics agency Eurostat today said, some 88,000 more people were added to the jobless total and the unemployment rate remained at 11.3. per cent. Eurostat said the over 18 million jobless total in July, was the highest since records began in 1995. The highest unemployment rate in the eurozone was in Spain, at 25.1 per cent. 

The lowest was in Austria, at 4.5 per cent. Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate fell in 10 eurozone countries, increased in 16 and remained stable in Slovenia. Spain and Greece, which are struggling to tackle sovereign debt and banking crises, recorded jobless rates of more than 50 per cent in the under-25s age-group.

In Assam, the project “Rupaantar” (Transformation) has been able to create a social and economic transformation in the operational areas of Oil India Ltd. Particularly in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia district. The project is being jointly implemented by the Oil India Ltd and the State institute of Rural Development, Assam. 

The project is coined to eliminate poverty through income generating activities by social mobilization and capacity building among the rural people. During a short span of time of only nine years the project “Rupaantar” is now being considered as a milestone of rural development initiatives across the country.

AIR correspondent reports, In order to address the problem of growing unemployment and poverty the Oil India Ltd. has undertaken a long term project named “Rupaantar” which means Transformation. The idea of the project was to help the unemployed youth and women to find out alternate source of employment and income. 

To achieve this goal the Oil India Ltd. Has signed a memorandum of understanding with the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD), Assam in the year 2003. Under this project Self Help Groups (SHGs) are developed and SIRD is providing these groups necessary training and technical support where the OIL is supporting them in the form of revolving fund and margin money.

The focus of the project is on development of agro-based industries, diversification of handloom products, poultry farming, pig breeding, duck rearing, fishery, sericulture, organic farming etc.

Till date over 2(two) thousand Self Help groups are formed and a large number among them are getting financial support from various banks.

This joint project of OIL and SIRD has not only helped in enhancing the income level of the rural people but also built a good rapport between authorities and the beneficiaries.

India's unemployment rate stood at 3.8 per cent during the last fiscal, with Daman and Diu and Gujarat topping the list of least unemployed among states and UTs. Director General of Labour Bureau D S Kolmakar told reporters in Chandigarh that India's unemployment level is much better than that of other countries like US, Spain and South Africa.
The latest report for the year 2011-12, released by Labour Bureau (under Union Ministry of Labour and Employment) said Daman and Diu and Gujarat had unemployment rates of 0.6 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan stood at 3rd and 4th position in the list.