Letters: From opportunity to threat?

Apart from Subir Roy’s assertion in “Whatever happened to sabka vikas” (April 19) that the Narendra Modi-led government has not been able to keep its promise of high job creation, there is other growing evidence also that makes the picture more gloomy. Economic growth has created wealth but not as many new jobs. Increments are taking place in the informal sector while the size of jobs in the government and public sector undertakings is shrinking. The former do not go beyond ensuring subsistence level of the individual.

More education has led to more unemployment. In rural India 6.5 per cent of the educated male youths in the bracket of 15-29 years with higher secondary schooling were unemployed in 2011-12 while 19.1 per cent of graduates and above went without jobs. The scenario was worse in urban area with these figures as 14.6 per cent and 23.4 per cent respectively. The situation has not changed much. Today even MBAs are also waiting for jobs.

High investment has strong correlation with employment generation in specific industries only. Buying expensive and labour saving technology kills existing jobs more than create new jobs. If at all it does, it requires higher skills not easily available. Growth is sluggish in the manufacturing sector while demonetisation has left micro, small and medium enterprises limping — these provide most jobs.

A few thousand positions in judiciary teaching, police, army and medical categories are lying vacant both due to government inertness and paucity of able and willing candidates. Thus reduction in headcount in government staff (including Central and state governments, public sector undertakings and local bodies) from 19.13 million in 2000-01 to 17.60 million in 2011-12 and much less now may not be entirely due to higher efficiency of the staff.

Challenges in job expectations will mount with the passage of time and Modi’s efforts to divert attention to elimination of corruption, care for the poor and stress on digitisation may not prove to work unless jobs also increase with economic prosperity.

Y G Chouksey, Pune

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