India needs policies focusing on job-rich growth and equality: ILO chief

International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert Houngbo has said that India should focus on job-rich growth and equality to address the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine situation.

Details:

• In concluding remarks at the 17^th Asia Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), ILO Director-General has said that the member countries to:
• Ensure greater policy coherence among multilateral, regional and national stakeholders.
• Channel the collective efforts and resources to achieve social justice and decent work for all.
• Develop institutional frameworks to support transitions towards formality and decent work.
• Strengthen the foundations for social and employment protection and resilience.
• Revitalize productivity growth and skills.

Consequences of COVID-19 in India:

• Income and food price spike: It caused substantial income losses and food price spikes.
• Low-income households: They barely maintained their subsistence household expenditure.
• Engel’s law: Share of food expenditure rises as income falls. Further aggravated by food price spikes.
• Impact on socialization: Due to budget constraints: A higher share of food expenditure is expected to lower that of socializing expenditure.
• Slow Recovery: It might increase inequality in India.
• India needs policies focusing on job-rich growth and equality.
• By focusing on job-rich growth and equality, India can move forward further.

Impact of Ukraine-Russia conflict:

• It has resulted in causing inflation and an energy crisis.
• Those who are paying the price for this are those who have nothing to do with this crisis.
• Low-paid citizens are left behind, particularly because of inflation.
• They are forced to spend a big amount of proportion of their salaries on basic needs.

Inclusive Growth:

• Inclusive growth means economic growth that creates employment opportunities and helps in reducing poverty. Elements of Inclusive Growth are:
• Skill Development: Harnessing the demographic dividend will depend upon the employability of the working-age population, their health, education, vocational training and skills. Skill development plays a key role here.
• Financial Inclusion: Financial Inclusion is the process of ensuring access to financial services to vulnerable groups at affordable costs.
• Technological Advancement: The world is moving towards an era of Industrial Revolution 4.0. These technological advancements have capabilities to both decrease or increase inequality depending on the way these are being used.
• Economic Growth: India is among the fastest-growing major economies in the world. However, currently Indian economy is facing a slowdown due to cyclic and structural challenges.
• Social Development: It means empowering all marginalised sections of the population like SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, women and transgenders.

India's Employment Trend:

• Agriculture: There’s been a reversal of the trend in the last two years. This has primarily to do with the Covid-induced economic disruptions.
• Service Sector: The services sector does include relatively well-paying industries such as information technology, business process outsourcing, telecommunications, finance, healthcare, education and public administration.
  • The bulk of the jobs, in this case, is in petty retailing, small eateries, domestic help, sanitation, security staffing, transport and similar other informal economic activities.
• Manufacturing Sector: The share of manufacturing (and mining) in total employment has fallen along with that of agriculture.

Major Causes of Unemployment in India:

• Social Factors
• Rapid Growth of Population
• The dominance of Agriculture
• Fall of Cottage and Small Industries
• Immobility of Labour
• Defects in Education System

Government’s Initiatives:

• Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE)
• PM-DAKSH (Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi)
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
• Start-Up India Scheme