Educated youth opt to be taxi drivers

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Equipped with university degrees, youth in the state of Uttaranchal must have thought that education will be a stepping stone to a bright future. But for many of these `taxi-owners-cum-drivers'' in this hilly state, to get good employment is a dream turned sour.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Many of these ''cab owners'' come from well-to-do families, are highly educated and are well aware of what is going on in the country and the world.At Haldwani, the doorway to Uttaranchal, the general secretary of the taxi union Vinod Upreti lamented, "There were primarily two factors why educated youth entered this business. One was that the cab business was lucrative as Uttaranchal had always been a tourist attraction. The second reason was the unavailability of decent employment even after you earned degrees or diplomas to your credit. Moreover, educated youth who had family and other commitments and therefore could not migrate to other regions, in search of employment have had to pursue the cab business to eke out a living."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Upreti is a graduate and has done a music ''visharad'' from Kumaon University, Nainital and runs an NGO as well. He said that out of 1,200 taxi drivers and owners in Haldwani city, about 80 per cent were educated and possessed ''degrees''. Cab owners and taxi drivers were unanimous in their views that due to the lack of ''industrialisation'', no job opportunities existed for those who have had a decent education.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">There is another side of the story too. Even, this ''cab business'' is virtually dying due to lack of a clear-cut policy and lackadaisical attitude of the state government. A cab driver Shankar remarked, "After the formation of the Uttaranchal hill state, things have been difficult. The state government has levied an additional tax burden on the owners and drivers, while those taxis which come from outside the state are spared of this tax." Although tourism is the main industry, the state government seems to have done nothing to exploit its true potential. The managing director, Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, a body set up by the state government to boost tourism and tourism-related businesses in the state, Tara Kendra Vaishnav exclaimed, "We have many tourism-rest houses in the state but due to lack of funds we are unable to look after their upkeep. Due to the same reason, we cannot create more opportunities for the youth as well."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">All this has led to frustration among the educated youth, many of whom feel that the taxi business cannot sustain itself, if tourism is not given a fillip. Upreti observed, "Uttaranchal finds a mention in the scriptures as ''Devbhumi'' or land of the gods. There are many ancient sites of importance in the hills, which both the Indian and the foreign tourists visit, but these are in a bad shape. The government needs to wake up to the need for making sustained effort to conserve these sites and develop them as tourist hot-spots. Unless this happens, tourism will not survive, which means that those dependent on tourism for employment will be out of business."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">A postgraduate in political science from the DSB College, Nainital, running a taxi service, Rajesh Negi said: "Uttaranchal is a vast storehouse of herbal products and this can be developed into a veritable industry. But, nothing concrete has been done in this direction, as a result of which, even those graduates and postgraduates who own ''land'' in the hills are selling it off to seek greener pastures outside the state."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Law and order situation in cities such as Haldwani, which serve as an important nerve centres for business appears to be declining as well. The government, however, refutes the charge. The sub-divisional magistrate, Haldwani, Ranveer Singh Chauhan said there were no such problems. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">According to Chauhan, "On the contrary, the government is doing its best to provide employment to educated youth, like creating posts in the police and judiciary." However, looking at the condition of the cab owners and drivers - this reporter came across a topper of the local college joining the fray -nothing substantial appears to have been done for providing job to the youth.</span></div> </div>