Treat Employment As A National Priority

Treat Employment As A National Priority 6 Oct 2025

Treat Employment As A National Priority

As per the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s working-age population is projected to grow by 133 million over the next 25 years, contributing 18% of the global workforce increase. However, this demographic dividend is time-bound, with the workforce expected to peak by 2043.

Significance of Employment Generation as a National Priority

  • Central Role in Equity and Inclusion: Quality employment can lift millions out of poverty and bridge regional and social disparities, ensuring inclusive growth.
  • Growth and Economic Resilience: In a consumption-driven economy like India’s, expanding the base of well-paid workers enhances domestic demand, stabilising long-term growth.

Challenges in Employment Generation

  • Fragmented Policy Landscape: Multiple central and state initiatives exist, but there is no unified employment framework integrating them.
  • Low Employability: A large section of graduates remain unemployable due to skill gaps and misaligned curricula.
  • Informal Workforce Dominance: Over 80% of India’s workforce is informal, lacking job security, benefits, and social protection.
  • Labour Market Frictions: Barriers such as inter-state migration issues, lack of portability of benefits, and gendered norms restrict mobility.
  • Data Deficiency: Employment statistics are often outdated and incomplete, making policy planning reactive rather than proactive.
  • Regional Disparities: Job opportunities remain concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural and underdeveloped districts lagging.

Measures To Be Undertaken for Long-Term Job Creation

  • Integrated National Employment Policy: A National Employment Policy (NEP)  should be implemented that would identify high-employment-potential sectors, align trade, industrial, education, and labour policies, and address gender and regional disparities while integrating technological skilling in AI and robotics
    • The oversight can be ensured by an Empowered Group of Secretaries, with District Planning Committees handling local-level implementation.
  • Strengthening Labour Market Dynamics: There is a need to bridge demand and supply gaps by promoting labour-intensive sectors.
    • The college curricula should be regularly reviewed to improve graduate employability and align them with emerging market requirements.
  • Labour Codes and Mobility Reforms: The four Labour Codes should be timely implemented with clear transition guidelines for businesses.
    • The migration policies should be framed to enable smooth worker movement across states, creating “One India for Employment.”
  • Sectoral Focus for Job Creation: The sectors like textiles, tourism, agro-processing, healthcare, and real estate capable of large-scale employment should be incentivised.
    • There is a need to strengthen the MSME sector through access to finance, technology, skilling, and markets.
    • The Pilot Urban Employment Guarantee Programmes in select cities should be launched to address urban job distress.
  • Harnessing the Gig Economy: The gig economy, employing 80 lakh–1.8 crore workers, could grow to 9 crore by 2030.
    • A National Policy for Gig and Platform Workers should ensure worker protection, fair contracts, and grievance redressal while encouraging sectoral expansion.
  • Enhancing Job Quality: There is a need to improve job quality through better wages, safe conditions, and universal social security.
    • There is a need to launch targeted programmes to create jobs in underdeveloped districts through rural internships, local BPO hubs, remote work facilities, and digital infrastructure expansion to bridge the rural–urban divide.
  • Women Participation: Measures should incentivise women’s employment through the Employment-Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme, formalise Anganwadi and ASHA roles, and expand childcare and eldercare infrastructure to support sustained workforce participation.
  • Robust Employment Data System: A dedicated task force for real-time, high-quality employment data, covering informal and rural workforces to enable evidence-based policymaking should be maintained.

Conclusion

By implementing coordinated reforms, investing in people, and ensuring equitable opportunities, India can convert its demographic potential into a true dividend, realising the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Mains Practice

Q. India’s demographic dividend risks turning into a demographic burden without a coherent employment strategy. Discuss the major challenges hindering job creation in India. Suggest key measures for ensuring inclusive and sustainable employment through an Integrated National Employment Policy. (10 Marks, 150 Words)

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UDAAN PRELIMS WALLAH
Comprehensive coverage with a concise format
Integration of PYQ within the booklet
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हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध
Quick Revise Now !
UDAAN PRELIMS WALLAH
Comprehensive coverage with a concise format
Integration of PYQ within the booklet
Designed as per recent trends of Prelims questions
हिंदी में भी उपलब्ध

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