The Government needs to take bold steps to create more jobs in the country
The soaring unemployment rate in India is a matter of concern.In Himachal Pradesh, a staggering figure of 8,82,269 youths have registered themselves as unemployed. The real figure may be more because many of those who lost their jobs would have gone back home without registering themselves. The situation is no better in neighbouring states like Jammu & Kashmir (13.2 per cent), Punjab (9 per cent) and it is alarmingly high in at Haryana (31 per cent). While the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has estimated the unemployment rate at 11.7 per cent in the country, the rate in these states is much higher than the national average of 8.1 per cent. The ground realities in Haryana indicate that thousands of unemployed youthincluding those having BTech and MTech degrees applied for just three posts of peon in the district court of Jind. Undoubtedly, the Covid-19 pandemic crippled businesses and caused retrenchments, adding to the jobless numbers. In the states, there are clear variations of the numbers. As per CMIE data, the unemployment rate in December2021was highest in Haryana (34.1 per cent),followed by Rajasthan (27.1 per cent), Jharkhand (17.3 per cent) and Bihar (16 per cent). There are also age-wise variations. Based upon the data from CEDA-CMIE (between January, 2019 and July 2021), 2020-21 saw 42.4 per cent fewer 15-19 years old employed in comparison to 2019-20. The age group of 20-29 saw the average monthly employment numbers go down by 15.6 per cent. Another important area in terms of variations is gender. Though the enrolment of women in schools and colleges is improving, the proportion of women who get employed and get paid is low and continues to decline over the years. Both in urban and rural areas, unemployment among women is higher than men. For women, the average unemployment rate was just double to that of men- 14.28 per cent for women in comparison to 7.88 per cent for men. On top of it, of the women willing to seek work in urban areas,92.1 per cent donot get any work and same is true for 54.8 per cent women in rural areas.
The main reason is that most women are involved in agricultural jobs in rural areas. Due to mechanisation of agriculture, womenfolk lost their job market and female labour participation in agriculture declined considerably. Secondly,India’s manufacture industry is not labour-intensive which has made it difficult to compensate women who get displaced from agricultural jobs. The situation seems to be grim on all fronts. The manufacturing, hospitality and entertainment, real estate, tourism and other sectors of economy which generate employment are hard-pressed. The investment rate is declining and has dropped from 34.3 per cent in 2011 to 27 per cent in 2020.Indian banks are badly affected by NPAs and interest rates are expected to increase due to inflation.The companies are not investing due to uncertain situation, delicate access to credit and weak demand because of shrinking middle class and lack of purchasing power. The economic situation can improve only if steps are taken to revive the economy by providing timely support to the industries, agriculture and allied fields, MSMEs and informal sector which generates employment. The private investment needs to pick up in a big way. This can only be possible if the Government take some bolds steps to create jobs for the unemployed youth.
(The writer is a senior journalist and Chairman, Panwar Group of Institutions, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The views expressed are personal.)
