Nothwithstanding industrial growth, Sundergarh district in Orissa has witnessed rise in the number of educated and skilled unemployed, official sources said.

The official registered job seekers graph has climbed up from 60,000 five years back to 62,764 now. However, unofficial sources put the figure at a staggering 1.5 lakhs.

Unemployment has been spiralling despite the fact that the district has around 47 sponge iron plants and over 200 ancillary units besides, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and cement plants of OCL (India) Ltd, L and T and Indo Flogtes.

Many sponge iron units are owned by businessmen based outside Orissa. Thinking that local job-seekers would be active in unions, they prefer recruiting outsiders.

Unemployed ITI students union president, Raj Kishore Pradhan alleged that a large private iron and steel unit in the district had employed about 90 per cent of technical hands from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra through an agency. Rest of the sponge iron plants also did the same.

Around 25 government and private institutions annually churn out about 4,800 diploma engineers and ITI certificate holders. The unemployed students unions would launch agitation soon against RSP for stopping recruitments for over a decade. RSP has failed to recruit 222 diploma engineers and 100 ITI pass-outs despite their commitments, Pradhan alleged.

The recognised trade union of RSP, Rourkela Shramik Sangh, had raised the issue before SAIL chairman C S Verma who visited the steel city on August 23.

The union had also raised the issue of jobs to displaced people who had sacrificed their homes and land for establishment of the steel plant more than five decades ago.

The union has sought immediate recruitment of diploma and ITI passouts in order to cope with the work load in almost all units of the plant.