A blueprint for development and job creation

THE quest for equality, socioeconomic development has been a global phenomenon, and a vision that many developing nations aspire to.

- SHEETAL BHOOLA

The journey to achieving overall development and improving the lives of all peoples residing in a country is a daunting and huge task. Kudos to India for implementing appropriate measures and strategically planning to meet these targets.

Viksat Bharat 2047 is a motion based on the government's vision to move India into being recognised and fully developed by 2047. The Consul General of India, Durban, Dr Thelma john Davids recently hosted an event that specifically aimed to publicise and inform South Africans of the progression of this strategy.

Dr Nageswaran, chief Economic Advisor Ministry of Finance, India was the guest of honour and informed the guests of the progression of the strategy. It was reported that over the last decade, India has created approximately 17 million jobs, and they have been focusing on labour that is skill intensive.

In the previous decade, it was recorded that 4.5 million jobs were created. The numbers have more than tripled and Indian citizens can enjoy a better way of life because they have a livelihood. India’s population has escalated to 1.4 billion people and amidst this they still manage to sustain an unemployment rate of under 6% in recent years.

In comparison, South Africa has doubled their number of employed persons since 1994, and it has been recorded till date that approximately 16 million people are employed. Yet the unemployment rate in relevance to our population size is still almost 40% and it has been stagnating at that rate for a number of years.

An analysis can further investigate as to how accurate these developmental statistics are, but despite their capacity to be marginally or partially inaccurate, they give a clear benchmark of how progressive countries are in meeting their developmental goals.