Alarming phase of mass-unemployment most significant policy challenge: Pranab Mukherjee

Former President Pranab Mukherjee has warned about the rising unemployment among India’s educated youth, remarking at event on Saturday that joblessness was the “most significant policy challenge” facing the Indian economy.

“Looking at recent data, it is hard to escape the conclusion that although India has enjoyed high economic growth this has largely been jobless economic growth,” Mukherjee said in his address at the annual convocation of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ School of Vocational Education (SVE) and Apar Group of Institutions in New Delhi. The former president had been invited as the chief guest to the convocation ceremony.

The former university professor-turned-politician said that the “huge mismatch” in the job market between demand and supply, when it came to skilled workforce and job opportunities, could place a strain on the economy in the long run.

“There has been an alarming phase of mass-unemployment among the educated youth. Post-graduates and graduates are walking pillar to post in search of employment. Despite large numbers of educated young, there is shortage of skilled manpower,” said the 83-year-old leader.

“There are unemployed youths and the companies are facing shortage of manpower,” he added.

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often come under severe fire of failing the people on the promise of creating one crore jobs, as promised by Modi in the lead-up to national elections in 2014. As per the government figures towards the end of 2016, the unemployment rate was up from 4.9% in 2013-14 to 5% in 2016-17.

Saying that India’s favourable demographic dividend could turn into a “demographic disaster” if rising unemployment numbers are not taken care of, Mukherjee added, “It is imperative therefore to be a big push in the areas of education and employment in India. This is the most significant policy challenge facing the Indian economy.”

“In 2012, India's population was 1.23 billion of which 65% was of working age. India already has a smaller ratio of old people to those of working age population than that of China,” said Mukherjee, who was India’s thirteenth President.

“In contrast to China, India's population will continue to grow beyond 2025 and these trends are likely to persist well into the future. By this time, India can be a high-income or high middle-income country. Arguably, no country currently faces such fortuitous circumstances; indeed very few countries ever have,” Mukherjee noted in his speech.

He said that India’s economy would “boom” if the government could productively engage its working-age population.