The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Opposition Party said it is concerned that unemployment rate in the last three years has reached a crisis level.
Referring to the survey report 2015, Member of Parliament of Kengkhar Weringla, Rinzin Jamtsho, said that it is equally alarming that in the past three years (2013 to 2015), the overall urban unemployment has increased by 92 percent and urban youth unemployment by 74 percent.
Similarly, female youth unemployment has increased by 43 percent, and overall female unemployment has increased by 37 percent while the overall youth unemployment has increased by 30 percent in the same number of years.
He said that the future is even more worrisome as there is no major investment made to create any significant number of jobs. “The recent Lyonchhen’s Annual State of the Nation report hardly outlines any concrete and convincing employment generation programs,” he added.
Opposition also pointed out that the previous government, in its 5 years (2008 to 2013) of governance, brought down the unemployment rate to 2.1 percent while today the unemployment rate is going up every year.
The government pledged to create 100 percent employment opportunity and they promised to create an estimated 120,000 jobs, out of which they pledged to employee 30,000 abroad, within their five-year term.
The government has to provide 24,000 jobs in one year out of which 18,000 within the country and 6,000 overseas. However, in the last one year, it has employed only 7,031 within country, thereby achieving only 39 percent of the target.
Similarly, only 1,439 have been employed overseas in the last three years, thereby achieving only 8 percent of the target beside the programs have with numerous problems. “Thus, the performance on employment creation both within and overseas has been dismal,” MP Rinzin Jamtsho added.
He said that the government must accept its failure on the issue and must acknowledge the gravity of the current employment scenario and its direct impact on the economy, law and order situation and the overall wellbeing, peace and security of the nation.
“This unwelcoming scenario resulting from extremely poor performance of the government, on this highly important matter, has left the Opposition Party deeply worried. We call on government to treat the unemployment situation with the highest of seriousness and take urgent actions on solving the deepening unemployment crisis,” he said.
