Provisions in the latest Budget may neither address the problem of widespread unemployment nor help the Modi government win a losing battle of perception over its track record in job creation.
In his maiden Independence day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented an overall vision and announced concrete governance initiatives that he was planning to implement. Speaking for more than an hour, he declared several sector-specific initiatives and explained the rationale behind them. These initiatives would attract popular attention in the subsequent days and come to be discussed animatedly in public discourse for a long time.
One such initiative on employment generation received global attention. He explained it thus: “If we have to promote the development of our country, then our mission has to be ‘skill development’ and ‘skilled India’. Millions and millions of Indian youths should go for acquisition of skills, and there should be a network across the country for this and not the archaic systems. They should acquire the skills which could contribute towards making India a modern country. Whenever they go to any country in the world, their skills must be appreciated, and we want to go for a two-pronged development. I also want to create a pool of young people who are able to create jobs, and the ones who are not capable of creating jobs and do not have the opportunities, they must be in a position to face their counterparts in any corner of the world while keeping their heads high by virtue of their hard work and their dexterity of hands and win the hearts of people around the world through their skills. We want to go for the capacity building of such young people.”
This story is from the March 2, 2018 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the March 2, 2018 edition of FRONTLINE.
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New worries
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No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
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An empty package
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