IN a meeting held in Lucknow on August 26, 2024, various student and youth organisations, youth and student leaders, and social activists decided to launch an Employment Rights Campaign. The campaign will focus on issues such as imposing appropriate taxes on corporate houses and the super-rich, guaranteeing education, health, and employment, immediately filling vacant government posts in the country, and ensuring a dignified life for every person. A plan was made to bring these issues to the broader student-youth community, including lawyers, traders, and all sections of society, and to gather their suggestions. A 13-member coordination committee was formed to run this campaign, with plans to expand it in the future. The meeting was chaired by Abdul Wahab of SFI.

In the meeting, Rajesh Sachan, the convener of Yuva Manch, spoke about employment and its political economy. He emphasized that the issue of unemployment can be resolved if there is a change in economic policies. He mentioned that a group of eminent economists has consistently opined that imposing a mere 2 per cent wealth tax on the super-rich and a proper inheritance tax could generate enough resources to address the issues of education, health, and employment. He also highlighted that the government is not serious about filling nearly 10 million vacant positions in government departments. The promise made by prime minister Modi to fill one million positions in mission mode has not been fulfilled to date.

DYFI's state secretary, Gulab Chand, termed this initiative as highly significant, stating that the central government's economic policies have exacerbated the problem of unemployment. The budget share for sectors like education, health, employment, and social security is continuously declining. There is a need for an employment guarantee law for urban people, similar to MGNREGA.

SFI's Abdul Wahab and DYFI's Deep Day said that students' democratic rights in universities and colleges are being violated. The negative impacts of the new education policy should also be prominently addressed in the Employment Rights Campaign.

Aakanksha Azad from Bhagat Singh Students' Front highlighted that the rising rates of youth suicides due to paper leaks and the employment crisis are alarming. The privatisation of education has had the most severe impact on the poor and women. Due to the increasing cost of education, many female students are being forced to drop out of school.

Lalchand from Naujawan Bharat Sabha pointed out that the government is blaming the people for unemployment, claiming that there are no skilled workers in India, despite the fact that there is no shortage of qualified people in the country.

NSUI's state secretary, Ahmad Raja Khan Chishti, said that the central government is making every possible effort to weaken the unity of the youth, but it will not succeed this time. Former student leader of Lucknow University, Imran Raja, emphasized the need to spread the Employment Rights Campaign at the grassroots level in Lucknow. Young advocate Jyoti Rai suggested that public outreach be conducted with students in every university and college in the capital, along with extensive dialogue with all sections of society.

Awadhesh Chaudhary, general secretary of the All India Youth League, expressed his agreement with the issues raised and assured that his organisation would fully support the campaign. Aarti raised the issue of providing a decent salary to scheme workers such as ASHA and anganwadi workers, stating that women bear the brunt of unemployment far more. Labour leader Pramod Patel expressed deep concern over the increasing contract system in government jobs in the state and demanded its abolition. Disha Student Organisation's Mrityunjay said that making employment a constitutional right is the need of the hour. Shaili from Aligarh Muslim University pointed out that the transgender community faces neglect, and the government should take special measures for their education and employment. Aditya Prakash Mishra described this campaign as the need of the hour.