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Vajpayee concerned over rising unemployment

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said today that there were no short cuts to accelerated economic development.

Intervening in the question hour in the Lower House of the Parliament or Lok Sabha, Vajpayee agreed that the unemployment situation in the country was becoming serious, especially in the context of the new economic policy. This was because of the new technology, which cannot be dispensed with if India is to stay in the competition.

The prime minister said that the development would in the long run lead to generation of jobs, as is the case of the construction sector where construction of ten million houses was envisaged.

Talking about the freeze on recruitment in government organisations, the prime minister said it had been found that many areas in the government were doing well without fresh recruitment. He said that the work culture in government organisations had to change. But this would require some time, he stated.

"We need to take some solid measures for generation of employment and we all will have to look into it," he added.

Replying to supplementary questions, labour minister Satyanarayan Jatiya said that the report of the task force, headed by Montek Singh Alhuwalia, is awaited.

He said that the task force was set up to suggest ways and means for creating ten million jobs in ten years as announced by the prime minister in 1998.

UNI

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