In the context of pandemic, changes in the model of economic growth is required to handle the unemployment crisis and jobless growth. Discuss (200 Words)
Refer - The Indian Express
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IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
Need for change
· The growth rate of GDP showed a sharp contraction in economic activity the impact on lives and livelihoods is still unfolding even though the sharp contractionary phase seems behind us.
· According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2020 round, the urban unemployment rate for the population above the age of 15 was 20.8 per cent, which is close to the monthly average for the same quarter from CMIE at 19.9 per cent.
· The fact that the economy has not been creating jobs predates the economic shocks of demonetisation and the hasty roll-out of GST.
· The PLFS data from earlier rounds have already shown the extent of the rise in unemployment compared to the employment-unemployment surveys of 2011-12.
· The decline in the number of workers by 15 million between 2011-12 and 2017-18 is only a partial reflection of the job crisis.
· The decline in jobs was accompanied by a decline in the quality of employment, with an increase in precarious jobs and a decline in access to social security for a majority of workers.
· More recent data from the PLFS is awaited, but estimates from the CMIE data suggest that the unemployment rate has fallen 7 per cent for the 15.
· This level of unemployment is not just a symptom of the jobless model of economic growth, but is also a recipe for political and social instability.
· The pandemic and the subsequent crisis in the employment-unemployment situation has only highlighted the fragile situation of the labour market.
