Where Does The Budget Stand On Employment

According to a leaked draft report by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the unemployment rate in the country in the Financial Year (FY) 2018 amounted to an overall rate of 6.1%, an all-time high in the last 45 years.

- Shinjini Mukherjee

Data published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) showed unemployment had risen from 3.4% to 3.6% from 2009-14 to 2014-19. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in a report that the number of unemployed persons rose by nearly 11 million, following the implementation of demonetisation in 2016. Although widely disputed, according to the Government of India (GoI) sources, India had 31 million unemployed people in 2018.

The most prevalent criticism thrown against the Modi Government in its previous tenure was its perceived jobless growth. It was expected that a key area for the Budget 2019 will be that of employment generation. Development of labour intensive industries should have been the main objective.

Lack of focus on unemployment