Skip to content
Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Primary Menu Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

Hindi News, हिंदी समाचार, Samachar, Breaking News, Latest Khabar – Pratirodh

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us
  • Featured

‘Off To Canada’: India’s Jobs Crisis Exasperates Its Youth

Jan 27, 2022 | Pratirodh Bureau

A poster of an immigration consulting agency hangs on an electricity pole in Rajpura town in Punjab on January 21, 2022 (Reuters)

Srijan Upadhyay supplied fried snacks to small eateries and roadside stalls in the poor eastern Indian state of Bihar before COVID-19 lockdowns forced most of his customers to close down, many without paying what they owed him.

With his business crippled, the 31-year-old IT undergraduate this month travelled to Rajpura town in Punjab state to meet with consultants who promised him a work visa for Canada. He brought along his neighbour who also wants a Canadian visa because his commerce degree has not helped him get a job.

“There are not enough jobs for us here, and whenever government vacancies come up, we hear of cheating, leaking of test papers,” Upadhyay said, waiting in the lounge of Blue Line consultants. “I am sure we will get a job in Canada, whatever it is initially.”

India’s unemployment is estimated to have exceeded the global rate in five of the last six years, data from Mumbai-based the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) and International Labour Organization show, due to an economic slowdown that was exacerbated by the pandemic.

Having peaked at 23.5% in April 2020, India’s joblessness rate dropped to 7.9% last month, according to CMIE.

The rate in Canada fell to a multi-month-low of 5.9% in December, while the OECD group of mostly rich countries reported a sixth straight month of decline in October, with countries including the United States suffering labour shortages as economic activity picks up.

What’s worse for India, its economic growth is producing fewer jobs than it used to, and as disheartened jobseekers instead take menial roles or look to move overseas, the country’s already low rate of workforce participation – those aged 15 and above in work or looking for it – is falling.

“The situation is worse than what the unemployment rate shows,” CMIE Managing Director Mahesh Vyas told Reuters. “The unemployment rate only measures the proportion who do not find jobs of those who are actively seeking jobs. The problem is the proportion seeking jobs itself is shrinking.”

Vocal For Local

Critics say such hopelessness among India’s youth is one of the biggest failures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who first came to power in 2014 with his as yet unfulfilled promise of creating millions of jobs.

It also risks India wasting its demographic advantage of having more than two-thirds of its 1.35 billion people of working age.

The ministries of labour and finance did not respond to requests for comment. The labour ministry’s career website had more than 13 million active jobseekers as of last month, with only 220,000 vacancies.

The ministry told parliament in December that “employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the government”, highlighting its focus on small businesses.

Modi’s rivals are now trying to tap into the crisis ahead of elections in five states, including Punjab and most populous Uttar Pradesh, in February and March.

“Because of a lack of employment opportunities here, every kid looks at Canada. Parents hope to somehow send their kids to Canada,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Admi Party is a front-runner in Punjab elections, told a recent public function there.

“I assure you, within five years they will start returning because we will create so many opportunities for them here.”

He did not explain, but party workers said their policies would attract job-creating businesses.

Punjab’s neighbour Haryana, home to local offices of many global IT companies and an automobiles hub, has already ordered that most jobs there be reserved for locals. A political party in Punjab has promised something similar if voted to power.

“To an extent, if a particular sector is doing well, then some arrangements can be made to ensure that local youth get opportunities,” said Amit Basole, head of the Centre for Sustainable Employment in Azim Premji University in Bengaluru.

“But if overall job creation is weak, then such policies do not solve the underlying problem. And they may also make things worse by reducing investment.”

CMIE’s Vyas said India needs more investment in labour-intensive industries and should bring more women into the labour force, like Bangladesh has done through its garments factories.

“No One Delivers”

Between 2018 and 2021, India suffered its longest period of slowdown since 1991, with unemployment averaging 7.2%, CMIE data shows. Global unemployment averaged around 5.7% in that period.

The jobs shortage is particularly problematic for a country like India where annually 12 million people reach employment age. The economy has not grown fast enough to absorb so many people, economists say.

Also, the increase in workforce for every percent rise in gross domestic product has shrunk: the economy will have to grow at 10% to raise employment by 1%, said Basole of Azim Premji University.

In the 1970s and 1980s, when GDP growth was 3% to 4%, employment grew around 2%, Basole has found.

Back in Punjab, Blue Line counsellor Lovepreet said business was booming, with his agency handling some 40 clients a day.

“I have been doing this for four years,” said the 27-year-old, who gave only one name. “I am off to Canada myself, this year or next year. Politicians keep promising us government jobs, but no one delivers.” (Reuters)

Tags: labour, Pratirodh, unemployment, unemployment in India

Continue Reading

Previous ‘Watershed’ Puts Inequality At Heart Of India’s Water Crisis
Next Railway Job Seekers: NSUI Holds Protest Over Police Brutality

More Stories

  • Featured

Indian Economy Yet To Revive From Effects Of Pandemic: CPI (M)

59 mins ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

New Pipelines Will Fragment Assam’s Protected Forests: Environmentalists

1 hour ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

The Role Of Urban Foraging In Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems

15 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • Indian Economy Yet To Revive From Effects Of Pandemic: CPI (M)
  • New Pipelines Will Fragment Assam’s Protected Forests: Environmentalists
  • The Role Of Urban Foraging In Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems
  • Now, A ‘Private’ Sainik School Linked To RSS?
  • About 3,000 Tech Employees Being Fired A Day On Average In Jan
  • War Veteran Doctor, ‘Rasna’ Creator Are Among Padma Awardees
  • Black Days Ahead If Coal City Doesn’t Change
  • US Firm Alleges ‘Brazen’ Fraud By Adani, Who Calls It Malicious
  • Why Ukraine War Today Is So Different From A Year Ago
  • No Screening Of BBC Docu At JNU As Power, Internet Cut
  • Shielding The Hijol From Climate Impacts
  • Bilkis Bano’s Plea Against Convicts’ Remission Could Not Be Heard In SC
  • NDRF To Station Permanent Teams In Hills For Rescue Operations
  • Thousands Of Indian IT Professionals Jobless In The US
  • How Solar-Powered Refrigerators Slow Down Climate Change
  • Compensation For Crop Loss: Landless, Tenant Farmers Miss Out
  • Peru Closes Machu Picchu As Anti-Government Protests Grow
  • There Was No Need To Scrap Article 370: Dulat
  • RSS Ideology And Netaji’s Ideals Poles Apart: Anita Bose-Pfaff
  • UN Sorry For Photo Of Its Personnel In Front Of Taliban Flag

Search

Main Links

  • Home
  • Newswires
  • Politics & Society
  • The New Feudals
  • World View
  • Arts And Aesthetics
  • For The Record
  • About Us

Related Stroy

  • Featured

Indian Economy Yet To Revive From Effects Of Pandemic: CPI (M)

59 mins ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

New Pipelines Will Fragment Assam’s Protected Forests: Environmentalists

1 hour ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

The Role Of Urban Foraging In Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems

15 hours ago Pratirodh Bureau
  • Featured

Now, A ‘Private’ Sainik School Linked To RSS?

21 hours ago Shalini
  • Featured

About 3,000 Tech Employees Being Fired A Day On Average In Jan

1 day ago Pratirodh Bureau

Recent Posts

  • Indian Economy Yet To Revive From Effects Of Pandemic: CPI (M)
  • New Pipelines Will Fragment Assam’s Protected Forests: Environmentalists
  • The Role Of Urban Foraging In Building Climate-Resilient Food Systems
  • Now, A ‘Private’ Sainik School Linked To RSS?
  • About 3,000 Tech Employees Being Fired A Day On Average In Jan
Copyright © All rights reserved. | CoverNews by AF themes.