BJP strike hits jobless youths

DHENKANAL: Hundreds of unemployed youth were deprived of attending the job fair organised by Skill India and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) here following road blockades by district unit of BJP on Tuesday.

Only 250 youths could reach the fair venue on SIET campus, while hundreds of others travelling from faraway places of the district failed to reach the venue due to the strike.

The BJP workers led by former MLA Krushna Chandra Patra and ex-Rajya Sabha member Rudranarayan Pany had resorted to road blockades at the block headquarters of the district over various demands. As a result a large number of aspirants were prevented from coming to Dhenkanal town to attend the fair. Expressing resentment, a job aspirant Sarat Sharma said, “A lot of unemployed youth like me came from remote blocks of Bhuban and Gondia to attend the mela in the hope of securing a job. But, we had to return empty handed thanks to the politicians.”

The fair intended to provide job opportunities to over 2000 youth with qualifications from Class X, Plus Two, ITI, Diploma in engineering to graduates and engineering graduates. As many as 17 companies from Delhi, Daman, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha and other states took part in the fair.

“The fair was affected by the strike”, Skill Council of India vice-president Piyush Chakraborty said.
Chairman of SIET Binod Dash said, “Though we had urged the leaders to allow the job aspirants to attend the fair, there was no response.”