The Editorial Analysis- Create More Jobs, Revamp Employment Policy

Table of Contents

Create More Jobs, Revamp Employment Policy- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 3: Indian Economy– Issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

The Government of India has recently announced its plan to create 10 lakh government jobs in the next 18 months.
Of about 40 lakh sanctioned posts, 22% posts are now vacant and the Government will fill these posts in 18 months.

There are as many as 8.72 lakh positions that were vacant in various departments of the Central government, as told by the Minister of State in Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to the Rajya Sabha on February 3, 2022.
If various positions in public sector banks, the defence forces and police, the health sector, central schools and central universities, and the judiciary are added, then the number touches about 30 lakh posts.

Inefficiencies: As sanctioned posts broadly indicate the required posts needed to run a government, it appears that this government is perhaps facing a serious shortage of staff, which is then causing long delays in work, corruption and maybe other inefficiencies.
Poor Quality Employment:
- Increased share of Contract worker: The share of contract workers in total government employment has been increasing rapidly in recent years — from 11.11 lakh in 2017 to 13.25 lakh in 2020 and to 24.31 lakh in 2021.
- In addition, there are “honorary workers” such as Anganvadi workers, their helpers, accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers, etc.
- These employees of the government earn a lower salary (consolidated wages), and are not entitled to “decent work” conditions (International Labour Organization recommendations) including a minimum package of social security.
Unemployment: Given the backlog of about 30 million unemployed people and an annual addition of 50 lakh-70 lakh workers every year (World Bank).
- At a labour force participation rate of 42.13% (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd.) the unemployment rate of the youth is about 20% at present.
- This scheme of the Government will hardly provide any relief to the youth of the country; and will not have much of an impact on the present unemployment problem.

Focusing on Quality: The Government must ensure that the employment generated under its plan will be of a standard quality.
- There has been no assurance so far on this by the Government.
More Jobs Needed: In the backdrop of COVID-19 and cut-backs in private sector, it is all the more important for the Government to ensure as many jobs as possible.
- The generation of a mere 10 lakh jobs in the next 18 months is too little.
- If the Government is really in ‘mission mode’ to provide employment to the unemployed, and to the youth, it will have to do much more than what has been announced.
Focusing on Basic Needs: Government will have to take responsibility for meeting these basic needs without depending on privatisation — at least for the bottom 40% of the population. The first task for the Government would be to take-
- Much better direct care of basic well-being,
- Human development and human resource development, and
- Basic infrastructure of the bottom population without privatisation in these areas.
Reorient the Industrialisation Policy: to focus on labour-intensive sectors of the economy, and promote Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and informal production.
- This is to be done by ensuring better technology and higher productivity, providing finances (including working capital) and pushing further cluster development for all industries that have the potential.

If the gesture of filling vacant posts in the Government is part of a mission employment, it will have to be followed by radical changes in the Government’s employment policy.