Online Course for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) Exam
(Assistant Commandant)
Indian Economy
Social Sector Initiative
In the recent past, there has been deceleration in the growth
of employment in India in spite of the accelerated economic growth. This can be
explained in terms of steady decline in employment elasticity in all the major
sectors of economic activity except in construction. Overall employment
elasticity declined in India from 0.52 during 1983 to 1993-94 to 0.16 during
1993-94 to 1999-2000. As would be clear the decline was quite fast in
agriculture as it declined from 0.70 during 1983 to 1993-94 to 0.01 during
1993-94 to 1999-2000. According to T. S. Papola, the decline in employment
elasticity in the agriculture “is found to be due primarily to the sharply
declining and even negative elasticities in a few regions – Punjab, Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh – where the green revolution has resulted in significant yield and
output growth.’
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C.P. Chandrasekhar has also argued that economic growth in
India in recent years has not led to much employment generation. He states,
“India’s trajectory of growth is not matched by employment generation. This will
lead to social unrest unless the government rethinks its economic priorities.
For three years running, the rate of growth of the Indian
economy has been extraordinary. The growth rate of the gross domestic product
(GDP) is estimated at between 7.5 and 8.5 per cent in the years 2003-04, 2004-05
and 2005-06. While these figures conceal sectoral differences, such as the
extremely poor performance of agriculture and the disproportionately high rate
of growth of services, they are indeed remarkable. But new evidence suggests
that this may not help resolve India’s principal economic problem: its large and
growing reserve of unemployment.”
Jeemol Unni and G.Raveendran in their study have shown how in
recent years employment trends have moved. They have noted on the basis of data
from Full Employment-Unemployment Round (61st Round, 2004-05) of the NSS that
the workforce increased to nearly 457 million with a substantial unemployed
population of 11 million. This implies that the number of unemployed persons
grew substantially in this period compared to mid and late 1990s (1993-94 to
1999-2000).
Their study also reveals sharp decrease in the rate of
employment generation during the mid and late 1990s in both rural and urban
areas (see Table =). The overall growth in employment declined from 2.01 per
cent per annum during 1983 to 1993-94 to 0.98 per cent per annum during the
period 1993-94 to 2004-05. As is clear from data contained in Table 12.2, growth
rate of employment declined steeply in the rural sector during the period
1993-94 to 2004-05.
Structure of Employment
The structure of employment can be followed by examining the
sectoral distribution of employment, employment in organised sector, and rural
and urban employment.
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