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Informist, Monday, Jul 22, 2024

--Labour market indicators have improved in last 6 years
--Unemployment rate declined to 3.2% in 2022-23

--Declining trend in unemployment rate since pandemic

--Urban unemployment rate fell to 6.7% Jan-Mar
--Urban unemployment rate was 6.8% in Jan-Mar 2023

--Need to create job avenues for labour force leaving agri
--Need to generate 7.85 mln jobs annually in non-farm sector

--Demand for more focussed skills in services sector jobs

NEW DELHI – The Indian economy needs to generate nearly 7.85 mln jobs for the non-farm sector every year until 2030 to cater to the rising workforce, according to the Economic Survey for 2023-24 (Apr-Mar). To meet the demand of 7.85 mln jobs in the non-farm sector per year, there is scope to supplement the existing schemes of production-linked incentives, among others, while boosting their implementation, it said. 

According to the survey, tabled in Parliament today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, given India's structural transformation, it is assumed that the share of agriculture in the workforce will gradually decline from 45.8% in 2023 to one-fourth in 2047. The corresponding workforce leaving agriculture will thereby be added to the rise in workforce.

"To generate and sustain quality employment, agro-processing and care economy are two promising candidates," stated the survey, compiled under Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran.

The agro-processing industry lies at an intersection, offering ample job opportunities for the rural workforce while also helping crop diversification in areas like Punjab and Haryana where paddy cultivation faces challenges from groundwater scarcity, according to the survey. There are rising shifts in consumption patterns with tier-I and tier-II cities moving more towards processed food, making way for the agri-processing industry to boom, the survey said. 

As the agro-processing industry is not necessarily a skill-based sector, a substantial chunk of the rural workforce seeking jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme can be shifted to more productive and less-fiscally straining ventures. "Given that agriculture and related industries remain the mainstay of the rural economy, increasing productivity in this sector is imperative to create jobs," the survey said.

Speaking about the care economy, the survey said that reforms could be along the following lines: support for parental leave policies, subsidies for care services, public and private investments in building care infrastructure, mechanisms for skill training for care workers, mechanisms for monitoring service quality and benchmarks to offer a comprehensive framework for addressing gender disparities in care and domestic work, and boosting women's labour force participation.

The guidance on the need for job creation avenues comes against the backdrop of the government facing criticism for lack of jobs in the country. In fact, unemployment and distress in lower income groups were cited as reasons for the National Democratic Alliance returning to power with a sharply reduced majority. The Bharatiya Janata Party's tally came down to 240 seats from 303 in 2019, and the number of seats of the ruling coalition fell to 292 from 353. The majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha is 272 seats.

Though there is a need to generate employment, the survey noted that there has been a declining trend in unemployment rates since the pandemic. Even though Indian labour market indicators have improved in the last six years, data remains grim. The urban unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in Jan-Mar from 6.8% in the year-ago period. 

"As India looks forward to creating millions of jobs by 2030, dovetailing this transformation in the demand-supply dynamics of services is pivotal to meeting the hiring requirements in the medium term," the survey said. The emerging job demands in the services sector entail greater and more focussed skills, it added.  End

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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