India's employment challenge: 20 million jobs need to be created each year
A number of analysts attribute the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) underperformance in the general election to voter unhappiness with the Narendra Modi government over unemployment, job reservations and farmer livelihoods. The Agnipath scheme of military recruitment came in for criticism during the election campaign and many political commentators expect that the new government will be compelled to make changes to it. We should view interpretations of election results with some scepticism, but it does appear that the issue of inadequate employment opportunities has bubbled up to the surface of our political ocean.
India’s growing economy is creating livelihoods and employment, but not fast enough. We need to create 20 million jobs every year (to cater to the 12 million young people entering the workforce and to transition around 8 million farmers languishing in rural areas). This is the required run rate.
Even if our current run rate is 5 million a year, we are still falling short of the target. To put this in perspective, India must create more jobs per year than the entire population of the Netherlands, Sri Lanka or Taiwan. It’s a scary number.
Yet, India cannot become Viksit Bharat without pulling off such an unprecedented feat. Economic growth is the fundamental engine—the only engine—that can power this quest. High growth is a necessary condition, but it needs to be supplemented with a concerted programme to boost employment generation.
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