Delhi sees sharp rise in unemployment; poses challenge for AAP govt

The number of unemployed people has gone up by over 11% between 2014 and 2015

Unemployment has risen sharply in the national capital, with the number of unemployed people going up by over 11 per cent between 2014 and 2015.

Over 12 lakh people did not have a job in 2015 with around 56 thousand of them having diplomas that are supposed to equip a person with professional skills.

Unemployment figures paint an alarming picture with it rising from 9.13 lakhs in 2013 to 10.97 lakhs in 2014 to 12.22 lakhs in 2015, according to the latest economic survey of Delhi released on Tuesday.

The number of unemployed persons registered in employment exchanges in Delhi was 5.56 lakhs in 2005. It has increased exponentially, with a marginal drop in between, since then.

According to the educational distribution of those unemployed in 2015, 1,95,450 were graduates, 34,033 postgraduates and 56,576 were diploma holders.

In 2013 and 2014, there were 44,934 and 52,532 unemployed diploma holders in the city.

The steady rise poses a serious challenge for the AAP government which, in its poll manifesto, had promised to create 8 lakh jobs in five years by bridging "skill gap" through the promotion of vocational education.

"We will create the first ever Delhi skill mission to train and enable one lakh youths per year for the first two years, ramping up to five lakh youths per year for the next three years," it had said.

The AAP government had assumed office in February 2015.