Demographic Dividend

India's fertility rate has fallen below replacement level, but the bigger question is whether the economy can create enough jobs and raise productivity before ageing pressures build

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday directed the high-level committee on demographic change to study the shift in population structure in border districts, officials said. Chairing the meeting of the committee, Shah also asked it to visit border areas, metro cities and industrial towns for an assessment of changes because of illegal migration and other unnatural causes, they said. The Home Ministry had formed the high-level committee to assess demographic changes across India due to "illegal immigration and other unnatural causes" and suggest measures to address these challenges. The Committee is chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar and includes the census commissioner, along with retired IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, ex-IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and Dr Shamika Ravi as members. The joint secretary (foreigners-l), Ministry of Home Affairs, is the member secretary of this committee. Announcing the formation of the committee last mon

India's widening fertility divide is set to influence politics, labour markets and economic growth

The book holds the slowdown in the growth of non-farm jobs as a key reason for inadequate demand

BS Manthan: Suman Bery suggests rebranding NITI Aayog as a 'Productivity Commission', stressing higher labour productivity and greater women's workforce participation to achieve Viksit Bharat

Today's opinion page pieces look at the many challenges India faces, from trade, logistics reforms, AI in governance and a demographic time-bomb

Older persons past their productive age are considered burdens on economies. Governments cannot provide sufficient pension and medical care without taxing younger people who are earning

Among the countries having demographic dividend, India is a noticeable exception that has not harnessed this human resource

According to a study, Japan's tourism boom is at risk as severe labour shortages hit the hospitality sector

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said the country cannot have millions of illegal migrants and allow the electoral politics to be disturbed by demographic dislocations, as he appealed to the youth to neutralise anti-national narratives. Dhankhar, also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, voiced concerns over frequent disruptions in Parliament. Speaking at the World Forum of Accountants (WOFA) conference in the national capital, he said the youth should be concerned about the existential challenges. "Our nation cannot afford to have millions of illegal migrants... We cannot allow our electoral politics to be disturbed by demographic dislocations and earthquakes. These are things that will matter for you because these are the challenges for which you have to collectively finally answer," he said. Without elaborating further, Dhankhar said, "I have no doubt... kaha jaatha hai, samajdhar ko eshaara kafi hai (it is said that for informed people, signal is enough)". Expressing ...

In terms of India integrating with the world, the report notes that it can benefit from being increasingly important for the world

India is on track to increase its workforce from 423.73 million in 2023 to 457.62 million by 2028, reflecting a net gain of 33.89 million workers, a report said on Wednesday. According to a report by American software company ServiceNow, emerging technology will transform talent across India's key growth sectors, generating 2.73 million new tech jobs by 2028. According to the report this surge in demand presents retail professionals with a valuable opportunity to upskill in areas like Software Application Development and Data Engineering, equipping them for a tech-driven landscape. This is followed by manufacturing (1.50 million jobs), education (0.84 million jobs), and healthcare (0.80 million jobs), propelled by expected economic growth and tech transformation, it stated. "AI will be a key catalyst for job creation across India's growth engines, particularly in roles requiring advanced technical skills. This strategic emphasis will not only create more high-value opportunities fo

A new delimitation of parliamentary constituencies is overdue, and it might be done on the basis of more recent population numbers

Political correctness should not prevent us from discussing them

The Budget also places emphasis on leveraging the power of women in the workforce

India has a limited window of growth

For the demographic dividend to be reaped, India has to invest a lot in education and health

India is not reaping the benefits of democratic dividends, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said Tuesday, emphasizing that there is need to focus on improving the human capital and enhancing their skill sets. I think we are in the midst of it (democratic dividend), but the problem is we are not reaping the benefits, Rajan said at a conference on Making India an Advanced Economy by 2047: What Will it Take at the George Washington University here. That's why I said 6 per cent growth. If you think that's about what we are right now, take away the fluff in the GDP numbers. That 6 per cent is in the midst of a demographic dividend. It is much below where China and Korea were when they reaped their demographic dividend. And that's why I'm saying we are being overly complicit when we say this is great. This is not because we are losing the demographic dividend because we are not giving those guys jobs, the former RBI governor said. And that leads us to the question, how do we create thos

With the blurring urban-rural income divide and the diminishing mental and physical distinctions, large mass markets with modest-income consumers are finally emerging

As the population inches towards critical mass, Centre forms a high-powered committee to dissect the challenges of rapid growth, paving the way for solutions in the pursuit of a Viksit Bharat