In his speech during the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in October 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the states and districts to develop a long-term vision to make India a developed country by 2047 when the country completes 100 years of Independence.
“It is essential to combine the vision of states and districts with the national vision to reach the goal of Vikasit Bharat by 2047,” the PM said. He also has laid stress on India’s goal of reaching developed economic status by 2047 on numerous occasions.
However a recent report by the World Bank has noted that India’s goal seems improbable, given the current employment scenario in the country.
A senior World Bank official has stated that India will not be able to meet its goal of becoming a developed economy by 2047 unless the employment gets a boosted in the country, Financial Times reported.
Franziska Ohnsorge, top economist for South Asia at the World Bank, highlighted that in a ‘no-reform scenario’ achieving the the status of developed country by 2047 is ‘improbable’.
In a new research report titled ‘Jobs for Resilience’, released on April 2, the World Bank said that India’s employment growth in the 2010s was noticeably lower than that of other developing economies and emerging markets.
The employment ratio fell more in India between 2000 and 2022 than in any other nation in South Asia, except Nepal, the report stated. The employment ratio is the labour force employed against the percentage of the region’s working-age population .
Ohnsorge further noted that Overall, during 2000-23, employment growth was below the average working-age population growth and the employment ratio declined, describing this as a “missed opportunity.”
More education means joblessness?
The ‘India Employment Report 2024’ published in March by the Institute of Human Development and the International Labour Organization (ILO) noted India’s youth faces significant challenges with high unemployment rates, where approximately 83% of the unemployed individuals are youth,
The report, which was released by chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, highlights a worrying trend — percentage of educated young individuals, with at least a secondary education, has almost doubled from 35.2 per cent in 2000 to 65.7 per cent in 2022.
