The excitement whirling around the Rs 1 lakh crore mark collection achieved through the Goods and Services Tax is understandable as it points to the much needed growth of the economy. The green shoots visible in the last few quarters were no mirage. But some skepticism expressed over the actual figures need to be considered to give sanctity to them. The view that the figure was elevated by the last minute payment of arrears of GST by some parties cannot be ruled out. There is also the fact that there has been growth without employment but that too could be changing. According to reports, data from reliable sources like the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and the National Pension System reveal that 2.2 million formal jobs have been added in the six months.
These figures however are tempered by the fact that it could also be due to more workers from the informal sector being brought into the formal sector as employers want to take advantage of the incentives provided in the Budget to encourage a safety net for workers. India has an estimated 85 per cent of people employed in the unorganised sector — one of the largest in the world. This could also perhaps include the pakoda and vada pao sellers. That jobs have been created must be admitted though it may still not be near the 10 million jobs that Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised in his election speeches and manifesto. A million people enter the job market every month! Mr Modi has barely a year before the next general elections and this unfulfilled promise could come back to haunt him. This newspaper has pointed out that 217 high-value projects worth Rs 9 lakh crore are stuck in various stages of development. If these can be completed they could provide a huge number of jobs.
Infrastructure is a major job creator and the good news is that the government is aware of the huge slowdown particularly in the railways and highway sectors. Now it has to be seen as to what it does about this. There has to be out-of-the-box thinking to meet the huge demand. Shifting the ministers concerned for their failures is hardly a solution and has not achieved anything. For one the government is far behind in its efforts to skill people and make them employable. It is a well-known fact that the majority of engineers graduating from engineering colleges are unemployable and need to be reskilled. If the government can get its act together and meet the demand for skilling the 110 million workers required in several sectors it could solve much of the employment problem. India can take cues from countries that have achieved huge success in skilling their workers. Japan for instance has skilled 80 per cent of its workforce, Germany 75 per cent and the UK 68 per cent to name a few.
