Saturday 20 May 2017

Jobless Growth
The expression 'jobless growth', which is sometimes used for the Indian economy, to my mind is an oxymoron. Either there is growth or there is high unemployment, but there cannot be both. Let me explain.
There can be no doubt that unemployment has increased after the BJP came to power in May 2014. 
According to the Indian Labour Ministry, 9.5 lac jobs were created annually in the organized sector of the Indian economy in the years 2009 to 2011. But in the years 2015 and 2016 the jobs created annually were less than 2 lacs.
In the quarter October to December 2016 2.5 lac small units closed down. In the I.T. sector there have been massive lay offs, and according to Vishal Sikka, CEO of Infosys, half the I.T. jobs will become redundant in a few years.
Can there be growth of the economy without increasing the number of jobs ? I submit there cannot, because if production increases there must be an increase in sales. To increase sales there must be more people with purchasing power to buy the increased amount of products, and this implies increase in jobs. A jobless person has little purchasing power.
It follows that 'vikas' was an empty slogan, a jumla, like Indira Gandhi's 'garibi hatao', useful for winning elections, but after which people are left high and dry.
In this connection see my blog http://justicekatju.blogspot.in/search?q=unemployment

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