In line for dole

In Lucknow,the number of registrations for March stood at 82,000. In February,soon after the SP made an announcement to this effect,7,189 people got themselves registered as unemployed in Lucknow. Just a month earlier,in January,the same office had only registered 1,572 people.

Employment offices across the state are now among the most happening government departments. These offices,which earlier got into action well past 10 a.m.,now see officials taking their position at

9 a.m.,bracing for the jostling crowds outside their counters. Earlier,the last application form would be given out at 1.30 p.m.,but the rush has now forced employment offices to stay open till 5 p.m.

With the government yet to formulate a policy to filter out people from among the surging numbers,almost everyone who thinks she could do with an allowance or a laptoppeople who work in private offices,housewives,students,the elderlyis queuing up at these employment offices.

P K Pundir,Regional Employment Officer of Lucknow,says,Since the government has fixed 35 as the minimum age for the allowance but is silent on the upper age-limit,all of them think they stand a chance. Students come thinking that the registration will help them get laptops and tablets. The SP had also promised free laptops and tablets to children who clear their intermediate and high-school exams.

M K Singh,Regional Employment Officer of Allahabad and Kanpur,says the lack of clarity has led to chaotic scenes. Many of them are already registered as graduates and post-graduates,but they are now getting themselves re-registered as intermediate pass and high-school pass hoping to make themselves eligible for laptops and tablets, he says.

Employment exchanges are meant to be an interface between recruiting government offices and registered job-seekers. Besides,these offices offer office management training programmes to SC/ST candidates,provide career counselling to students and hold placement camps.

But on two hot March afternoons,it was clearly the lure of the dole that had people swarming two offices that The Sunday Express visitedone in Lucknow and the other in Kanpur. At both these exchanges,men and women,the young and the old,stood in snaking queues to get themselves registered. Women had turned up in big numbers. Many of them said they were homemakers but now hope to earn an annual allowance. Some sat cradling children.

We profile 10 applicants from among the sea of faces who had gathered at the employment exchanges in Lucknow and Kanpur.

Shajid Ali,75

At 75,Shajid Ali was among the oldest people who had turned up at the Lucknow employment office. And probably the most upbeat. He had read about the Samajwadi Partys election promise and decided he fits in. Since there is no upper age limit,I decided to come here, says Ali,nattily dressed in a striped kurta and Nehru cap. His graduation mark sheets,yellowed with time,show he is a 1961 graduate from

Lucknow University.

Ali lives with his daughter in Ujariawan,an urban village in the Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow. Till a year ago,Ali,who goes by the name Shajid Master in Ujariawan village,earned his living giving tuitions,but he had to stop working when his health started failing.

I tried for a number of government jobs after Independence,but did not get one, he says.

Neelam Kashyap,38

The 38-year-old school teacher has made several rounds of the Lucknow employment office to submit her registration form,but hasnt been able to so far because of the rush. She hopes she wont have to go back disappointed today. Kashyap,who teaches in a private school,is a single mother to a 14-year-old. My husband disappeared a few years after marriage,leaving me with my child, she says.

A masters in political science and a law graduate from Lucknow University,Kashyap says that despite her qualifications,she has never found the right job. After several years of job-hopping,I now work in a private school for Rs 1,300 a month, says Kashyap.

She registered herself at the employment exchange in 2006,but her registration lapsed in 2009,after which she did not bother to get it renewed. Now,I hear that the government has promised Rs 1,000 a month as unemployment allowance. If I get that amount,I can give my son a better education, she says.

Manish Rajput,17

Seventeen-year-old Manish Rajput,a commerce student,is appearing for his class XII exams,but he has taken time out to be here at the Lucknow employment office. I hear the government is planning to give unemployment allowance and laptops to those who pass class XII. That is why I got myself registered, says Rajput.

Rajput,whose carpenter father supports their family of five,wants to join the army some day. Carpentry is our family profession,but I do not want to become a carpenter, says Rajput,who is studying on a Rs-500-a-month income-cum-merit scholarship.

A little later,Rajput realises that since he is under 35,he doesnt qualify for the unemployment dole. The allowance would have helped me study further,but I will find a way to do that. It would be good if I get a laptop after passing my class XII, he says.

Vijay kumar,51

A farmer,51-year-old Vijay Kumar has travelled 50 kilometres from his village Uttaripura to the Kanpur employment office. Kumar says he tried getting a job in the army when he was younger,but failed. He now works on the familys two bighas to support his wife and four children. We just about get enough from our land to sustain ourselves, says Kumar. Rs 1,000 from the government will be of great help.

SS Sachan,35 amp; Sunita Sachan,30

After clearing the Teachers Eligibility Test TET this year,35-year-old S S Sachan who teaches in a private inter college in Kanpur,had hoped to get a better job. But with the TET hit by a scam and the government now mulling its cancellation,Sachan and a few others recently travelled to Lucknow to join a protest against the proposed cancellation. They were protesting outside the Vidhan Sabha when the police hit them with lathis. Two days after that,Sachan was back in Kanpur,joining the queue outside the Kanpur Employment Exchange.

I do not have a permanent job and I have a family to look after. The job situation looks bleak. If the employment exchange can help me find a job or enable me to get an allowance,I will be happy, says Sachan,father of a five-year-old girl.

While Sachan has a diploma in chemical engineering and a BEd degree,his wife Sunita has done her masters in Sociology. She too has registered at the exchange. If any one of us gets the allowance or the job,it will be of great help, says Sunita.

Ayushi Jaiswal,32

An MA in English Literature,32-year-old Ayushi Jaiswal belongs to a business family which runs a medical shop and a fitness centre in Kanpur. She read the Samajwadi Partys promise of an unemployment allowance in the newspaper and decided to register. She is amongst the few who filled up the registration form online.

Jaiswal may not be financially hard-up but says the unemployment allowance will come handy. And its not just the lure of the allowanceshe hopes registering at the employment exchange will land her a job. Jaiswal,who has a BEd degree,is now planning to take the Teachers Eligibility Test. Whether I get the allowance or not,at least I will be registered for a job, says Jaiswal,a mother of two who regularly participates in TV contests,even winning a family trip to Hong Kong last year through the Kurkure Disney Land Contest.

Shabnam Siddiqui,25 amp; Shabnam Bano,25

Sisters-in-law Shabnam Siddiqui and Shabnam Bano,both in their mid-twenties,have queued up at the Kanpur office to get themselves registered,oblivious to the fact that to be eligible for the unemployment allowance,you need to be over 35. While Siddiqui has studied till class XII,her husbands sister Bano has studied till class X. In my family of ten,only my father-in-law and husband work and their salary is not enough to sustain the family, says Siddiqui.

Meanwhile,Banos husband,a labourer,is the familys sole earner. Though both Siddiqui and Bano are keen to get the unemployment allowance,they are not looking for a job. My husband says I do not need to work as long as he is capable of earning, says Bano.

Neetu Singh,38

Neetu Singh,38,has a masters degree in home science while her husband teaches in a private school. After Singh,a homemaker,heard about the unemployment allowance, she decided to register at the employment exchange. I would read in newspapers about the rush at the employment exchange and how some people even fainted because of the crowds. I was afraid my husband would not allow me to go to the employment exchange so I came here without telling him, says Singh,mother of a school-going son,who is here to submit her form.

Once she registered at the exchange in Kanpur,Singh persuaded her husband to register as well. Till now,the government has only taken something or the other from us in the form of taxes. If we are getting something now,even if it is just Rs 1,000,its better than nothing.

Anupam Shukla,17

Seventeen-year-old Anupam Shukla is a first-year commerce student who is already on the lookout for a job. An accident in childhood left him disabled and he hopes to get a government job under the disability quota. Under the category of physically challenged,I can get a clerical job through this exchange, says Shukla. My father is over 60 and my elder brother is still trying to establish his business. Once I start earning,I can continue my studies and later prepare for a better post in government service, he says.

Shukla registered at the exchange in Kanpur a fortnight ago and hopes a job offer will come his way soon.

Asha Mishra,37

The eldest among three sisters,37-year-old Asha Mishra has a masters degree in sociology and has done a course in computers and another in graphic designing. Despite her qualifications,finding a job hasnt been easy. There is no value for educational qualifications and not every place is suitable for a woman to work in. I tried my luck in Delhi as well,but the living costs there are high, she says. My mother is in her eighties and my sisters are younger than me so I have to find some way to earn for my family. If the government cannot give us jobs,then at least they should pay us some allowance. Whether its a job or an allowance,Ill be happy to accept whatever they offer, says Mishra.

Party Promise

The age limit for government jobs will go up to 35 and if those above 35 continue to be unemployed,they will get an annual unemployment allowance of Rs 12,0008230;.Students who clear their class XII will get a laptop8230;and students who clear their class X will get a tablet.

From the SP manifesto

I see from the newspapers that a huge number of youth have come out for the unemployment allowance. If the earlier government could spend money on erecting statues,money can surely be arranged for such welfare schemes.

Akhilesh Yadav,after taking over as CM