The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region DoNER has sanctioned a scheme of Rs. 79 lakh to train 60 youth from the region to develop Managerial Skill for Entrepreneurship. These youth will get the skill development training at Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong.

According to B K Handique, Minister DoNER the Ministry has a larger roadmap to train youths for better employability. The institutes like IIM, IIT and TISS are well positioned to cater to the training needs of the Region in addition to their regular courses, he says. We have requested these institutions to develop such courses and we have been able to make considerable headway in designing some, the Minister added.

The programme will cover Skill, Empowerment and Employment Special Scheme (SEE & JK) and BPL and non-BPL youths of the state. The scheme is scheduled to commence from June-July 2011.

It is notable that an ‘Expert Group’ was set up by the Prime Minister to enhance the employment opportunities among youth in J&K. It submitted its report in February, 2011. Based on the report
SEE J&K Scheme is a placement linked, market driven skill training programme for J&K youth will be implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development. Under the scheme, different strategies will be used for diverse groups of youth – school dropouts, dropouts of XII class level, and those who have had college education.

Corporation Bank, a public sector bank, has invited application for 1000 vacancies for clerk or single window operator. But applicants have clearly been told to apply only through online putting a large number of educated unemployed youth of the country as unskilled for group-C jobs. The candidates will have to collect their admit cards etc. through online only.

Not just for employment but Delhi University has too invited application for its BBS, BFA through online only. Several other institutions too are following the pattern.

The trend has grown up with the online test of IIM-CAT. But this was till now limited to the executive or management level jobs or professional jobs or courses only. But now it started to take over everywhere. The recent example of bank recruitment is one of them.

This is a good trend in terms of management practices but in the country like India you cannot keep shun your social responsibility. As a part of public sector unit bank should provide level playing field for the candidates, says Ashis Kulshrestha, a management consultant. There should be dual mode of application, he adds.

However, candidates say differ in the opinion. “It may be good for the bank but candidate’s problem has increased with the new techniques. In small cities internet connectivity is very bad, says Rajesh Ahuja, an aspirant of bank jobs. You need a computer for whole day to fill up a form, he adds.

“Where are the computer educated candidates”, asks Mohit. It is not just about computer literacy but also you need practical workable knowledge for it, he says.

But officers associated with bank services say that it is good for both i.e. banks as well as candidates.

Staff at the meat processing plant Dunbia, in Sawley, were told to clock off each time they went to the toilet. Money was deducted from their pay packets. Unite, a union, said up to 86 workers may take official action.

Solicitors were reviewing the claims to determine how many employees have a case.

Daily Express quoted Unite regional officer Cathy Rudderforth as saying: “There are two issues – whether there is a breach of their contractual hours and whether there is a breach of the minimum wage.”

She described the cutting of wages as “outrageous”.

Rudderforth said: “Every time staff go to the toilet, it takes them 15 minutes because they have to clock out and go through all the hygiene checks.”

However, a Dunbia spokesperson said the allegations were baseless.

“Hourly-paid employees are paid an additional sum of money each week to compensate for ­having to clock in and out from the factory floor, and all hourly-paid staff have been personally informed on the rationale and ­requirement for this procedure.”

All members including M.S. Swaminathan, Ram Dayal Munda,  Narendra Jadhav, Pramod Tandon, Dr. Jean Dreze, Aruna Roy, Madhav Gadgil, N.C. Saxena,  Dr. Shiva Kumar, Deep Joshi,  Anu Agha, Farah Naqvi,  Harsh Mander and  Mirai Chatterjee, attended the meeting.

The members agreed that the work of the NAC would be to provide policy and legislative inputs to Government with special focus on social policy and the rights of disadvantaged groups. The NAC would also give attention to the broad priority areas outlined in the President’s speech to the Parliament on 4th June 2009.

 Food Security Bill, natural resource management including revitalization of agriculture, development of SC and ST, welfare of minorities, communal violence Bill, poverty elimination and employment generation, land rights and land reforms, disadvantaged children, health security and medical  insurance, social security and safety net for the disadvantaged groups,  urban poverty and development of North-East region will be prime focus areas of the council.

Indian High Commission at Kuala Lumpur has formulated guidelines for Indian workers who want to take up legal employment in Malaysia. The Indian workers intending to seek legal employment in Malaysia should get themselves familiarized with the laws and working conditions in Malaysia. These guidelines are available on the website www.mohr.gov.my. The Indian workers planning to take up legal employment in Malaysia, should take the following steps, on arrival in Malaysia:

(i) Obtain a resident permit or identity card and a labour card immediately,
(ii) Keep their passports in safe custody and not part with their travel document, (i.e., passport) and employment contract signed by them in India,
(iii) At least, a copy of the passport should always be carried by them at all times,
(iv) They should not sign another employment contract or any blank paper during his/her stay in Malaysia,
(v) In case of loss of passport or copy of the employment contract, a report may be lodged with the Indian High Commission immediately,
(vi) They should get themselves apprised about the working conditions in Malaysia,
(vii) They should note that strike by workers in Malaysia is an illegal act under Malaysian Law.
Source: PIB

Bundelkhand, which have been a centre of focus for AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, has been given Rs. 1200 crore for job creation in the area. Rs. 40100 crore has been allocated for the National Rural Employment Scheme and Rs. 48000 crore for Bharat Nirman scheme to create more employment in the country.

The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed to increase post matric (10th standard) scholarships for SC categories. Promise has also been made for creation of more rehabilitation centres in the country for physically challenged people.
A National Clean Energy Fund has also been proposed for innovation and development of clean energy.