Editorial | It needs a shift in policy

One of the permanent tasks of any government is to create jobs for its citizens. The demands on this front are always mounting, and as you have more people and more education, it is very hard to keep up with the challenge. Nevertheless, governments have tried to broaden the horizon and create new avenues to accommodate the rising numbers of the educated youth. In this effort it is not just the development of infrastructure, and the governance institutions, but the change in policies that has actually helped. But despite all this it is not just possible for any government to accommodate all the educate youth that are produced each year. To fill in the gaps the governments try to create an overall atmosphere where economic activities can pick up and its benefits can trickle down, accommodating new people in the business fold. That is the solution to the rising demands of the the youth.

In India the opening up of the markets and the arrival of corporate sectors had given a huge push to job creation, and people in good numbers would find it to the corporate sector. The jobs would be high end, middle course, and also some low economic engagement. The overall impact of this was that the pressure was off from the government to an extent. In fact the reverse was happening. Many from the government sector would leave and prefer some corporate job. At the same time the industrial sector would accommodate many people as young entrepreneurs would start their own ventures. This was also a huge relief to the government as one successful venture would pave way for dozens to engage in some kind of an economic activity. The cumulative effect was that the young educated lot would find a berth somewhere to start the career. Unfortunately the overall downturn in the economy for sometime, compounded by this COVID crisis, has created a huge breakdown in this regard. People have lost jobs and businesses and their financial positions are very weak now. In this situation people now want a job in government, as they consider it safe and reliable. Here the onus is on the government to widen the net of safety to include private sector and other businesses, so that the job market doesn’t shrink to government spaces only. After all government cannot accommodate all the educated youth. If the private sector is made dependable, people would not lose jobs the way they have in this pandemic. It needs a radical shift in policy.

   

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

seventeen − four =