Labour Apathy: The Spanner in India's Works

Unable to move people from farms to factories fast enough, India risks punching below its demographic potential

- Megha Mandavia

Nitasha Agarwal is a different kind of headhunter. In May, she trekked to a small village in the hills of Meghalaya in search of factory workers for an electronics manufacturer in Bengaluru. Armed with YouTube videos, case studies, and stories of successful migration, she organized a camp in Mawlynnong's panchayat office.

Over the next few hours, she pitched factory employment as an escape from low-paying tea garden jobs.

"Some of these women have never even travelled outside their villages. We had to convince their parents," she said. "They asked me chawal milega ki nahi; non-veg milega?"

She answered hundreds of questions from curious village elders, parents, and applicants regarding salaries, safety, work profile, travel, food, and accommodation. Ultimately, she was able to recruit 70 young women.

Her job is a tough one. Scarcity of labourers in industrial towns has led her to travel to remote locations to find foot soldiers for the factories that power India's manufacturing ambition. Her company, staffing firm Quess Corp., organizes, on average, 400 such camps across villages in India every year with the help of state and district-level officials.

Local governments are keen to find employment for the youth. However, convincing parents and potential workers is only the beginning of the story to power India's mission to transition young workers from unproductive farm jobs to better-paying factory jobs.

A Long Road

In classical economics, land, labour, and capital are the key inputs for production. While governments have splurged on subsidies to attract capital and promised land to big-ticket projects, labour remains the weakest link.