In a joint report, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD) have revealed that nearly 83% of India's unemployed population comprises its youth! The report, titled 'The India Employment Report 2024', has stated that the number of educated unemployed has increased steadily in the South Asian country in recent times. This ratio was 54.2% in 2000. However, it increased to 65.7% in 2022. Currently, 76.7% of the unemployed in India are educated young men and 62.2% are educated young women.
With the help of statistics, the ILO and the IHD have shown that India's unemployment problem is increasingly confined to the educated youth. The joint report has mentioned that the highest youth unemployment rates were observed among those with graduate degrees, a trend particularly impacting women. According to the report, the jobless rate for graduates was 29.1%, almost nine times higher than the 3.4% for those who are literally illiterate! It has further indicated a rise in youth unemployment and underemployment between 2000 and 2019, which subsequently declined during the COVID-19 Pandemic years. Many educated people and skilled professionals lost jobs during this period. The report has further stated: "The youth unemployment rate more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, rising from 5.7% to 17.5%, but then dropped to 12.4% in 2022."
In 2022, women not engaged in employment, education or training accounted for nearly five times the proportion of their male counterparts, constituting 48.4% compared to 9.8%. This disparity has affected around 95% of the total youth population in this particular category. The report has mentioned that young women are significantly more likely to be out of employment, education or training than young men. The gender discrepancy was especially pronounced among older youths aged 20-24 and 25-29 compared to younger ones aged 15-19 in 2022.
Soon after publication of this report in the last week of March 2024, parties in Opposition slammed the Narendra Modi Government in New Delhi over the unemployment issue. Interestingly, Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India Venkatramanan Anantha Nageswaran triggered a controversy by saying that the Government could not solve all the socio-economic problems, such as unemployment. He reportedly said: "Look, all I will do is I'll keep talking on every dais and stage that we have to solve the unemployment problem, and that is my contribution to solving the unemployment problem. Because this is not something I can address." Nageswaran added: "In every public policy intervention, there is always the law of unintended consequences… In general, humans change their lifestyles and habits only when doctors read the riot act on behalf of the human body. Does it not apply to our youth and others in respect of their willingness to work or efforts to equip themselves with skills and attitude towards work?"
It may be noted that Narendra Modi had promised to create 20 million jobs per year before becoming the Prime Minister of India in 2014. However, the Government statistics shows that the rate of unemployment has broken a 45-year record during Modi's tenure! The ILO, too, has confirmed that 83% of the unemployed are youth. Only 17.5% of youth are engaged in regular employment in rural areas and just 26% of them are employed in industries or factories. These percentages have remained static since 2012! The rate of Indian youth engaged in economic activities was 42% in 2012 and it came down to 37% in 2022. In other words, the rate of unemployment has tripled during Modi's tenure as the Prime Minister compared to 2012.
Ahead of the Parliamentary Elections (to be held from April 19 to June 1, 2024), the Government of India has made no comments on the ILO Report. Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Finance has claimed that the Government would take necessary steps in order to address the issue of unemployment as soon as possible. However, it is still not clear whether Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could tackle the unemployment problem if it would manage to form the Government for the third consecutive time.
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