Employment: An Opportunity Or An Adversity.

We recently witnessed one of the biggest fair of the world-THE 2019 ELECTION.

A fair of a few to become the powerful “the few”, with more than 1 billion spectators.

Employment, one of the major basic necessities and the incessant problem of a developing country like India has been one of picnic target of different teams.

A controversy erupted recently over a leak of government jobs data that suggested unemployment in India is at a 45-year-high – a worrying situation, considering the millions of Indian youth entering the workforce each year. The government disputes these figures and maintains the situation isn’t as bad as it seems.

So, the question is: Are there enough jobs? And for those who are employed, are the jobs suitable to their qualifications?

According to data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in February 2019, the worst in 28 months. Meanwhile, the labour force is down 25.7 million since September 2016 and the number of employed persons has declined by 18.3 million.

India is second largest country on the charts of population on its way to be the first with ever increasing population of more than 1.2 billion people. More than one-third of it comprising of youth ranging from 15 years to 35 years creating a bulge in the middle of the population pyramid. But if look it the other way it means a million jobs needed, with thousands joining the rat race each year adding to the misery of not only the government with limited resources but also the country’s economy as a whole.

Moving on to the most accused element of the society, last year many new initiatives were launched by the government, such as the Ayushman Bharat Yojna, there was a further progress in the already launched “Make in India” campaign, Pan- India Initiatives , to name a few with the sole purpose of “ creating employment instead of providing employment” in the words of Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi. But still the results aren’t as promising as the schemes might have shown us to be.

Each year we get new initiatives on paper, with pompous ceilings set which are impressive when seen from a foreigner’s eye but living inside this country, we actually get concrete examples in everyday life, where after spending humongous amount of money on education of the child, the result is either an underpaid job or unemployment. This might sound petrifying, but the actual damage has been done to the individual, leading to a steep fall in the self esteem as well as a persistent feeling of failure to carry around for life. This damage is irreparable.

According to a research, the biggest boom turned bane of the society are the educated ones, because these are the ones who are not ready to take up any job thrown at them, they wait for the right opportunity. The ideal time of being unemployed often becomes the home for many illegal activities, catalyst being the personal frustration and lack of fruitful opportunities.

The lack of employment isn’t just an exclusive problem we are dealing with, instead a seed sown with branches of many more persistent problems. The “Make in India” initiative might be one solution, but the path is long with a lot of speed breakers which needs the cooperation of both the government and every citizen of the country. There is not a particular root cause instead a cycle, a circle which have to be reduced over time, which will need a lot more hands and wills put together.