Question – What is meant by unemployment? Explaining the present situation of unemployment in India, discuss the main programs being run to remove it. – 23 July 2021
Answer –
When the manpower working in a country is more and people do not get work at the prevailing wages even after agreeing to work, then such condition is called unemployment. The most appropriate measure of unemployment is the ‘unemployment rate’, which is obtained by dividing the number of unemployed people by the number of people in the labor force.
Normally economically active persons in the age group of 15-59 years are considered unemployed if they are not gainfully employed. The unemployment related statistics in India is released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Most of the employment in India is provided by the unorganized sector. Agricultural workers in rural areas and contract workers in urban areas come under the unorganized sector.
The National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) defines employment and unemployment on the following activity conditions of an individual:
- Working (engaged in an economic activity) means ‘Employed’.
- Seeking or available for work. means, ‘Unemployed’.
- Neither seeking nor available for work.
Major Types of Unemployment:
- Structural Unemployment: Structural unemployment is one that arises due to structural changes taking place in the economy. Many people in India do not find jobs due to lack of required skills and poor level of education makes it difficult to train them.
- Disguised Unemployment: Disguised unemployment is that unemployment in which the productivity of some people is zero, that is, even if these people are removed from that work, there will be no difference in production.
- Seasonal unemployment: In this, a person gets work in only a few months of the year. It is very common in the agriculture sector in India, as more people get work during the sowing and harvesting seasons, but they are idle for the rest of the year.
- Cyclical unemployment: Such unemployment occurs when there are cyclical ups and downs in the economy. Economic boom and recession are the main characteristics of capitalist economy. Employment opportunities increase in times of economic boom, whereas in recessionary conditions, the employment rate decreases.
- Resistive or Frictional Unemployment: A person who leaves one employment and moves to another, may become unemployed during the period between the two employments, or it may happen that a person may exit or be fired from one employment due to the use of new technology. If you are looking for employment because of this, then the unemployment of the period of leaving the old job and getting a new job is called frictional unemployment.
Major programs being run to remove unemployment in India:
- Prime Ministers Employment Generation Programme, PMEGP: A credit or loan limit of Rs 25 lakh has been provided for the manufacturing sector and Rs 10 lakh for the service sector. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a credit linked subsidy programme administered by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC), is the nodal agency at national level for implementation of the scheme.
- Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana: Under this target is to create 500 million skilled personnel by 2022.
- National Rural Livelihood Mission: Under this scheme, launched with the aim of bringing universal social solidarity, at least one female member of every rural household is to be brought into the self-help group network. Under this mission, ‘Himayat’ for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and ‘Roshni’ scheme was launched for the youth affected by Left Wing Extremism.
- MGNREGA: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), also known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), is an Indian law enacted on August 25, 2005. MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment every financial year. Any adult members of a rural household willing to do unskilled manual work related to public work at the statutory minimum wage. The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Government of India in collaboration with the State Governments is monitoring the overall implementation of the scheme.
- Deendayal Upadhyaya ‘Shramev Jayate’ programme: Shramev Jayate scheme also known as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Shramev Jayate programme, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the Government of India on October 2014. This scheme was started as an initiative for the development of industries. It also aims to extend government assistance to provide skill training to workers. The candidates must have complete knowledge about the objectives and benefits of all the schemes under the Government of India.
Job loss due to business closures and changes in the economy cannot be considered the sole cause of unemployment. Another equally important cause of unemployment is the lack of skills required for the jobs. India is grappling with a slowdown in job creation, especially in the manufacturing sector. Capital and machines are given priority over humans for better efficiency and higher productivity in this sector. There is a need to find a solution to all the causes of unemployment by giving due priority to it.
