NORTH-Wooing Industry, Unsuccessfully


ively reseryed for unskilled job-seekers. Besides, the four universities..of Calcutta, Jadavpur, Burdwan, and Rabindra Bharati, have each an employment information and guidance bureau. Also, there is a special employment exchange in Calcutta for doctors, engineers, technologists, and postgraduate degree holders. The total number of registered unemployed in West Bengal is about 17 lakhs. The jobs to job-seekers ratio, according to the figure of the employment exchanges is 100:1.- Unemployment among professionally and technically' qualified persons had reached serious proportions. As on December 31, 1977, there were 3,345 medical graduates and 5,098 engineering graduates, seeking employment through employment exchanges. In addition, there were' 7,876 engineering diploma-holders and 17,540 ITI certi- ficate-holders among the job-seekers, The committee on unemployment in west Bengal, in 1977, estimated the total number of unemployed in 1976 to be about 16.5 lakhs and the underemployed to be between 25 and 30 lakhs. The acuteness of the situation Was evident when, response to applications invited for 14,000 jobs under the special employment programme in June 1976, the office of the Calcutta Regional Employment Ex- ' change was flooded in. a matter of days "with nearly 6 lakh applications.