The challenge of job creation in India
About 83% of India’s labour force works in the unorganised sector. Most of these are low-productivity, low-income jobs. Fast economic growth over the last two decades has been driven by high-skilled service sectors but unaccompanied by significant employment growth.
India's Economic Survey indicates that creating jobs is the country's "central challenge". The process of economic transformation that entails labour transitioning from low- to high-productivity activities has been much slower in India than in other Asian countries like China. Why is this so and what can be done to generate more productive jobs in India or make existing jobs more productive, faster?
‘Ideas for India’, in collaboration with IGC India and Indian Statistical Institute, is hosting a panel discussion on what India is already doing and, critically, what it needs to do to address the challenge of job creation. The panellists are Kaushik Basu (Cornell University), Renana Jhabvala (SEWA), and Pronab Sen (IGC India). The moderator of the discussion is Ashok Kotwal (Ideas for India).
The videos from the event can be watched here.