Employment exchange still in demand

“Unlike private sector where the job opportunities have gone up in the past four months,vacancies in government sector have been quite constant. In fact,in a GR dated June 5,2010,entry-level recruitment in government sector is restricted only to a few sectors such as gram sevak,talathi,teacher,police,nurses and other health services. The number of applicants per vacancy has gone up as a result of the same. The registrations have increased at the rate of 31,000 for 2008,51,163 for 2009 and 60,000 for this year in Pune region alone,” said G A Sangade,assistant director,Employment Exchange,Pune.

The Employment Exchange conducts 12 registration drives per month at 12 different talukas in the region. “They all want government jobs only. This Sunday,we have a women’s job fair for 2,613 vacancies in 27 private sectors,but I am worried how we are going to fill the positions as no one wants private sector jobs,” he added .

Recently for 386 ‘conductor-level’ vacancies at the MSRTC for Pune region,as many as 23,044 applications were received from across the state,out of which only 1,812 were shortlisted. “After the implementation of the sixth pay commission,a conductor,who is an SSC pass candidate,earns Rs 5,000 per month in addition to the benefits associated with a government job-which is the motivator,” said one of the officers at the MSRTC. Last year,23,000 seekers turned up for 300 positions of the same post.

Jobs for the Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) and police force have been some of the most in-demand jobs for years. One of the recent examples being the Army rally at race course where 17,000 candidates turned up for 17 PBOR positions in the Army. “With the army,it is due to the pride associated with the uniform. Also,unlike private sector,the armed forces have a constant demand as people retire periodically,creating vacancies,” said colonel Bharat Dabral,recruitment director,Southern Command. Ashok Dhiware,joint commissioner of police said,“This is a clear indication of the fact that there is dearth of jobs and rise of unemployment.”