Swarnim Gujarat or vibrant Gujarat is a very exciting word but the ground situation in Modiland is very different. Some high rise buildings or mall culture in Western Ahmedabad, or some big and famous MNCs in capital city Gandhinagar are not the parameters of vibrancy. Unemployment is rife in the state making it difficult for Gujarat to become vibrant. Our senior correspondent from Ahmedabad pens the ground situation of employment position in Gujarat.

The number of jobless people in Swarnim Gujarat state has risen by 97,095 in the last two years according to a government agency. In other words, on an average the number of unemployed people has been rising by over 4,000 per month.

In 2007-08, there were 7, 92,033 jobless people in Gujarat but in 2008-09 this had increased to 8, 24,769. But according to the latest figures (for the 11-month period ended February 2010) available with the state's labour and employment department, the number of unemployed people in the state is now 8, 89,128.

The number of jobless people is now close to nine lakh. An interesting aspect of unemployment in Gujarat is that joblessness is particularly rife among the educated. The official data indicates that out of the 8, 89, 128 people officially unemployed in the state, only 71,762 had no education. The rest (8, 17,366) had received education at different levels.

A comparison of the latest data with unemployment figures of previous years indicates that the number of educated unemployed has risen much faster than the figure for the uneducated unemployed. This is contrary to the state government's claim that employment opportunities have increased in 'vibrant Gujarat'.

The official data is based on the number of jobless people registered with the state's employment exchanges till February this year.

A comparison of the latest data with unemployment figures of previous years indicates that the number of educated unemployed has risen much faster than the figure for the uneducated unemployed. This is contrary to the state government's claim that employment opportunities have increased in 'vibrant Gujarat'.

The latest data also indicates that the number of unemployed graduates is higher than that of the jobless with an SSC certificate. The total number of jobless graduates registered with the state's employment exchanges is 2, 42,344.

For SSC certificate holders, this figure is 2, 25,983. But the largest number of educated unemployed (2, 64,035 people) are from the Class 12-pass category. The number of jobless people with general postgraduate degrees has also increased - from 34,061 in 2007-08 to 47,472 in February 2010 - but the number of unemployed engineering graduates is only 56 percent. Unemployment among engineering graduates and post-graduates is very low compared to arts, commerce and science graduates.

While unemployment figures have continued to rise, the success rate of state-run employment exchanges in finding suitable jobs for them has been declining. In 2007-08, the number of people placed by the exchanges was 2, 00,562. This had come down to 1, 55,783 by February this year.

A senior government official said on condition of anonymity that graduates in general subjects find it difficult to get jobs as they are not sufficiently competitive. "But the state government has started vocational training in automobiles, call centres, and other similar employment avenues," the official said. "Also, once the projects for which commitment was made during different Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summits (VGGIS) become operational, no one will have any problem finding jobs."

The official further said that unemployment figures provided by employment exchanges were not very reliable. People rarely took the trouble to report back to the exchanges when they had finally found a job. "And under the rules, we cannot delete their names for three years, from the list of the unemployed,'' the official said.

This sorry situation of unemployment in Gujarat did not allow the state to advance into a prosperous state free from poverty.

Gujarat has a high 31.8 per cent population living below poverty line, says a Planning Commission report. This is higher than several major states such as Jammu & Kashmir (13.2 per cent), Kerala (19.7 per cent), Punjab (20.9 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (22.9 per cent), Haryana (24.1 per cent), Tamil Nadu (28.9 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (29.9 per cent). The report was submitted to the Commission by a group of experts, headed by Suresh D Tendulkar late last year.

Ranked eighth among major states, the only consolation for Gujarat is, Maharashtra, its neighbour and one of the main economic competitors, has a much higher incidence of poverty, 38.1 per cent.

Poverty line for Gujarat – monthly expenditure of Rs 501.58 per person in rural and Rs 659.18 in urban areas – is based on National Sample Survey (NSS) norms fixed in 2005-06, which includes ‘nutritional, educational and health outcomes’, to quote from the report.

Senior expert Prof Indira Hirway says, “High incidence of poverty in rural Gujarat shows that the recent boost in agricultural production has failed to benefit the poorest of the poor, particularly farm labourers.”

Gujarat’s poverty levels may just have come down since 1993-94, when it was 37.8 per cent, but at that time only five states had lower poverty levels than Gujarat’s – Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. It suggests that the hype around development notwithstanding, Gujarat has slipped in all-India ranking in alleviating the lot of the poor.

What is even more worrisome is that Gujarat has a much higher incidence of rural poverty (39.1 per cent) compared to other major states – Jammu & Kashmir (14.1 per cent), Kerala (20.2 per cent), Punjab (20.1 per cent), Haryana (24.8 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (32.2 per cent), Rajasthan (35.8 per cent), Assam (36.4 per cent), Tamil Nadu (37.8 per cent) and West Bengal (38.2 per cent). Incidence of rural poverty in Maharashtra, however, is much higher than Gujarat’s – 47.9 per cent.

As for urban poverty, things appear a little rosier. In Gujarat, 20.1 per cent people are found to be below poverty line, which is higher than five major states, Himachal Pradesh (4.6 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (10.4 per cent), Kerala (18.4 per cent), Punjab (18.7 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (19.7 per cent). This finding runs counter to a state government report, submitted to 13th Finance Commission, which said that Gujarat’s urban poor, deprived of basic facilities, are worse off than the rural poor.

As long as the problem of unemployment is not solved as a step towards eradication of poverty Narendra Modi loses the right to call Gujarat as Vibrant Gujarat.

Just look at these figures. This will give you an idea about the gravity of the problem. In the past one and a half year, 683 kids went missing out of whom 413 were girls. Not all of them became targets of human trafficking though, as 386 of them returned homes safely, but the rest-315 kids--are still missing. And the Gujarat police are scouring all over the place to locate these children.

It is being discussed that after illegal arms running and drug trafficking comes human trafficking and it is the third major area of crime. It reveals that even a state like Gujarat too has become a target of this organized crime.

Exploited child labour

Last August, the city Ahmedabad police had raided several embroidery units in Rakhial and rescued 84 child labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The boys, aged between seven and 17 years, had come to Gujarat in search of employment.

Subsequent raids by juvenile remand home officials and cops on jewellery production units revealed that child labourers from West Bengal and Orissa were working in sub-human conditions for some money to send back home.

These indicators and some others, such as the number of women who went missing in Gujarat growing by 77 per cent in a span of five years, were highlighted at a two-day workshop on human trafficking, commercial sex exploitation, and child labour held recently.

The workshop, organised by voluntary organisations - Sneh Prayas and Prerna - saw representatives of police, government and 12 other voluntary organisations discuss strategies to counter the growing menace.

Participants at the workshop advocated the launching of an action plan to combat human trafficking in Gujarat. Ahmedabad collector said: "We first need to micro-detail human trafficking so that the real nature of problem is ascertained"

"An action plan on prevention and rehabilitation should be designed only after this is done," some of the participants said. Voluntary organisations proposed to monitor human trafficking in the state in co-ordination with department of women and child development, social defence and state police.

"There is an urgent need to establish a protocol to counter growing menace of human trafficking in Gujarat. In certain parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra, there is heavy human trafficking with many cases of economically deprived women being pushed to prostitution," said Rajib Haldar, executive director of Prayas, an organisation working for juvenile justice.

"Much needs to be done by the state government to tackle this evil that has made Gujarat a hub for trafficking. This is an inter-state issue and needs co-ordination between police and government officials of western and eastern states," said Pravin Patkar of NGO Prerna.

In Gujarat, Ahmedabad has become the hub for trafficking. Most of the children who are brought here from Bihar and UP are engaged in different unorganised sectors such as zari units in Bapunagar, Saraspur and Rakhiyal areas. And children who are brought here from West Bengal and Orrisa are put into jewellery work in Ratanpole area.

Children are also forced into agarbatti-making, and are also engaged in odd jobs at hotels, restaurants, garage and bakery units. Citing reports of Ministry of Women and Child Development, and National Human Rights Commission, the NGO claimed there are at least 35,000 girls who are involved in the shrimp processing plants in Gujarat.

Women exploited for sex

According to the NGO, there are at least 1,46,550 commercial sex workers in Gujarat, and 70 per cent of them have been forced into the trade through trafficking.

''The Mukherjee & Mukherjee report had said that Gujarat comes under high concentration zone with thousands of women engaged in commercial sex in Surat, Sabarkantha, Rajkot, Anand, Junagarh, Vadodara, Gandhidham, Ahmedabad, Dahod and areas along NH 8. ''The same report has said that girls of Gujarat are sent to states like Andhra Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Maharashtra and Orissa. Similarly, sex workers from Maharashtra, AP, MP, UP and West Bengal pour in here through trafficking,'' Haldar said.

Ahmedabad is referred to in numerous ways - a city of pools, a city of foodies, a city of entrepreneurs. More importantly, it is known for the freedom and security it offers to women. However, this status of being a' safe city' may be slipping away from aapnu Amdavad.

An examination of data with the police commissioner's office reveals that in the past one year, crimes against women in the city have increased sharply, in some cases alarmingly. Sample this: between August 2008 and August 2009, 325 women were targeted by chain-snatchers. This figure rose to 492 during August 2009-2010.

From August 2008 to August 2009, 106 cases of women being abducted were registered at various police stations. This number, too, increased during August 2009-2010. It's not thatwomen face threats only on main city streets. The situation at their homes is equally hostile.

During August 2008-09, 568 women faced harassment by their husbands or in-laws, or by both. A year later, it has emerged that more than 860 women have endured torment and abuse at their spouses' homes.

The most disturbing fact arising from an examination of police records is that the number of women who lost their lives following demands of dowry went up from 1 in August 2008-09 to 8 during August 2009-10. The only fact the city can take some comfort in is that the number of cases of rape and molestation have gone down, though only marginally. Sociologist Gaurang Jani, who supports various causes of women, said that women were soft targets for criminals.

"There are many factors why crimes against women have gone up. One of the reasons is that more women are now working and studying. As their visibility has increased, criminals are increasingly targeting them," he said. "What is upsetting is that women face crimes at home and away from home."

Jani feels groups working for public welfare should create awareness in society on improving security for women. "Safety of women is an important issue, and it simply cannot be overlooked. Our society needs to protect its female members," he said.

An inspector at mahila police station in Karanj, C N Choudhary, rued the fact that cases of domestic violence were on the rise. "There are many laws for protection of women. However, most women are not aware of these laws. They do not raise their voice fearing a backlash from their family," she said. "Women should not silently suffer. They should approach us if they are being victimised. Even if they file an application, we will take action, " she emphasized.

Advocate Anil Kella said that male tendency to dominate was one of the reasons behind rising instances of harassment. "Women are better educated, and are surpassing men in every field and domain. Some men are unable to digest this fact and unnecessarily feel threatened," he said.

There are many laws for protection of women. However, most women do not raise their voices fearing a backlash from their families said C N Choudhary, an inspector at mahila police station in Karanj.

[Abdul Hafiz Lakhani is a senior Journalist based at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He is associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Gujarat). He can be reached at lakhani63@yahoo.com or on his cell 009228746770]