Panagariya stresses on importance of job creation at NITI Aayog website launch

Stressing on the importance of job creation in industry and services, the vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya, on Monday said that workers should have the opportunity to migrate to better paid jobs in the agriculture sector in order to share the prosperity of the economic growth.

"It is in recognition of these aspirations that while reorienting public investment in agriculture toward productivity-enhancing items such as micro irrigation, soil cards, effective extension services and improved seeds, the government has paid special attention to creating jobs in industry and services... Unless workers have the opportunity to migrate to better paid jobs in these sectors, they will be unable to fully share in the prosperity experienced by a fast-growing economy," Panagariya said in a blog post after launching the NITI Aayog website.

"There can be little disagreement that the fastest relief to the poor in India would come from productivity growth in agriculture. This is where nearly half of the workforce is employed. With the share of agriculture in the GDP at about 15 percent now, this half of the workforce is also significantly poorer than the other half, employed in industry and services," he added.

He said that agricultural growth and the expansion of good jobs in industry and services can go hand-in-hand to bring rapid elimination of poverty and shared prosperity for all.

"Indian farmers and their children recognize the superior prospects that faster-growing industry and services can potentially offer. According to a recent survey conducted by the NGO Lokniti, 62 percent

of all farmers say that they would quit farming if they could get a job in the city. As for their children, 76 percent say that they would like to take a profession other than farming," he said.

He further said that the Centre has encouraged states to undertake labor law reforms that would help stimulate jobs.

"States of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have taken lead in this area and, going by the reports in the press, the central government is now considering an overhaul of labor-law regime. It intends to

consolidate the 44 central labor laws into five while simultaneously introducing important employment-friendly reforms," he said.

Panagariya launched the NITI Aayog website almost five months after archiving the website of the erstwhile Planning Commission.

The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog had replaced the Planning Commission on January 1, 2015.