Guwahati, Sept. 2: Assam has a better employment scenario than the national average but its cities still have more jobless youths compared to the rest of the country, a survey has revealed.

Sharing the findings of the survey conducted by the Union ministry of labour and employment, chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said Assam’s unemployment rate is 33 per cent lower than the all-India average.

“The all-India unemployment rate is 9.5 per cent, whereas in Assam it is 6.4,” he said.

Quoting the report, he said the unemployment rate in Assam is “ninth lowest among 28 states” surveyed by the ministry of labour and employment for year 2009-10.

“This means that 20 other states in India have higher unemployment rate than Assam,” Gogoi said.

The chief minister attributed this to his government’s emphasis on rural development by way of employment generation.

“The rural unemployment rate in Assam is even better. Assam has 46 per cent lower unemployment rate than the all-India average,” he said.

According to the survey, the all-India rural unemployment rate is 10.3 per cent, whereas in Assam it is 5.9 per cent.

“It is eighth lowest among 28 states considered in this report. This is highly encouraging as 87 per cent of the population in Assam lives in rural areas,” Gogoi said.

“However, the high rate of urban unemployment in the state is indeed a cause of concern for us,” he said.

The rate of urban unemployment is 10.6 per cent in Assam, compared to the national average of 7.4 per cent.

“Lack of industrialisation could be the reason for high urban unemployment in the state and we will have to address this problem,” he said.

In literacy too, Assam has fared better than many other states.

In Assam, only 11.2 per cent of the population is illiterate while the all-India rate of illiteracy is 22.3 per cent.

“This means that the illiteracy rate in Assam is 50 per cent less than the all-India average. Assam has the fourth lowest illiteracy rate in the country. Moreover, the illiteracy rate for rural Assam is also 50 per cent lower than the all-India rural illiteracy rate,” Gogoi said.

On the AGP and BJP opposing the government’s move to resolve the Indo-Bangla border dispute through give and take, the chief minister asked, “I want to know what they did to recover the land when they were in power?”

He said it was no use holding on to land which is in adverse possession of Bangladesh because India has no control over it just like Bangladesh has no control over land which is in adverse possession of India.

However, the BJP and the AGP have made it clear that they were against any move to concede land to Bangladesh.

Both Delhi and Dispur are trying to resolve the border issue before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka on September 6 and 7.

Gogoi will be among the five chief ministers who will accompany him to the neighbouring country.

On the “disputed” Nayagaon in Assam’s Karimganj district, Gogoi said, “The question of holding negotiation with Bangladesh on Nayagaon does not arise, as it is a part of India and we also have possession of that area”.