The change in position on employment and the noticeably increased frequency of allusions of it in this budget address have been two of the major turns. “Employment” was the budget’s main topic, and the prime minister’s plan to support jobs and skills was prioritized above other comforting pledges. The proposed ₹2 lakh crore package aims to provide three employment-linked incentive schemes over five years to help 4.1 crore youth. Two of the schemes encourage hiring of new entrants with subsidies for at least a year, while the third scheme tries to incentivize companies to hire more workers than they did the year before.
A massive internship program for a crore of kids in 500 elite firms has been announced, along with a makeover of 1,000 industrial training schools with courses created in tandem with industry to close the skills gap between available employment roles and skill sets. The specifics of this internship placement scheme will be worked out, but the Center has committed to paying for the majority of the stipend. Companies can choose to participate in the program on a voluntary basis, with the remaining expenses to be covered by their required corporate social responsibility funds. In the electoral struggle, the opposition emphasized the importance of addressing the jobs crisis, which is a recognition of a problem that the administration has otherwise tried to ignore.
It should be noted that this government is not the only one to have faced criticisms of the rise in unemployment; the UPA had also done so. Investors’ inclination for capital-intensive ventures has contributed to the issue, in part because labor rules in India have not kept up with the rest of the liberalized economy, which acts as a deterrent to scaling up operations and adding more staff.
Recent shocks like demonetisation, the introduction of the GST, and COVID-19 epidemic lockdowns have also affected the informal sector, which provides the majority of jobs in India, making the misery even more severe. Production levels, not new employment, have been the focus of plans to encourage private investment through incentives.
The outcome of this well-intentioned package, which officials think may push hiring plans to the edges, will be closely monitored, as even rating majors describe India’s high youth unemployment as a structural danger to the country’s ability for long-term growth. But the government needs to do more, including filling thousands of positions inside its own ranks as soon as possible, if it wants to see an improvement in the overall employment outlook. In order to prevent the private sector from feeling compelled to increase employment or expand capacity in order to receive a subsidy, it is imperative to provide the conditions necessary to increase demand.
ABHISHEK VERMA
Author: This news is edited by: Abhishek Verma, (Editor, CANON TIMES)
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