Create more jobs, revamp employment policy.
For Prelims
- 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.
- The unemployment rate of the youth is about 20% at present.
For Mains
Current Issue.
- 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.
Concern.
- Government is managing now with an absence of more than a fifth of the required number of staff.
- There are as many as 8.72 lakh positions that were vacant in various departments of the Central government as per Gov report on Rajya Sabha.
- If vacancies in public sector banks, the defense forces and police, the health sector, central schools and central universities, and the judiciary are added, then the number touches about 30 lakh posts.
- This shortage of personnel causes long delays in work, corruption and maybe other inefficiencies.
- A major concern is about the quality of employment that will be generated through this plan.
- The total labor force in the country is around 437.2 million (April 2022 data)
- About 30 million unemployed people are there in India and every year another 50 lakh-70 lakh workers join the workforce (World Bank). This creates a major concern about unemployment in India.
- Private firms are managing their profit margin by cutting costs by reducing the number of employees or by reducing their salaries.
What can be done?
- Effective utilization of its demographic dividend through improving healthcare, nutrition, education, skill development etc.
- Government will have to take responsibility for meeting these basic needs of the lowest income groups without depending on privatization.
- An urban employment guarantee program would be most desirable to create ample employment avenues for urban youth.
