The Congress government, which came to power with promises to create two lakh jobs annually and address unemployment, is now under scrutiny. Despite committing to an annual job calendar, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s administration appears to have relied on job notifications and examinations initiated by the previous BRS government.
Once a hub for jobs and economic growth, Telangana now grapples with rising unemployment rates that exceed the national average. Recent findings from the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2024 and the Telangana Employment Study 2024, conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, reveal a troubling picture.
The national average unemployment rate among 15 to 59 year olds stands at 3.5%, while Telangana’s rate is higher at 5.1%. The disparity is even more pronounced for youth between 15-29 years, with a national average of 10.2% compared to Telangana’s 16.6%.
The Telangana Employment Study 2024 outlines several factors contributing to the rise in unemployment, including sluggish industrial growth, outdated skill training, and a lack of alignment between educational curricula and industry needs. Additionally, the report indicates that urban areas face particularly high unemployment, with an urban jobless rate of 25.4%, compared to 9.7% in rural areas. Graduates are hit especially hard, as 20% of college graduates and 19.7% of diploma holders remain unemployed.
Under the BRS government led by KCR, Telangana witnessed significant job creation, with over 2,32,000 government jobs filled in the past decade. Another 22.5 lakh jobs were created in the private sector, culminating in a total of 25 lakh job opportunities.
Telangana achieved the first rank in employment generation in South India and ranked third nationwide. Reports from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Periodic Labour Force 2023 placed Telangana second in the country for male employment.