Relevance : GS Paper III
Why has this Issue Cropped Up?
The unemployment rate has reached a 45-year high (6.1%) in 2017-18.
The Job Crisis
- Unemployment mainly in cities and towns.
- Low wages and precarity is widespread.
- Majority of the urban population in informal sector.
India’s Towns Ignored
- Towns are treated as “engines of growth” rather than job spaces.
- Govt job schemes such as SJSRY have ignored the unskilled.
- Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT benefit only a few towns.
- Urban local bodies lack financial and human capacity.
Way Forward
- Introduce an employment guarantee programme in urban areas.
- Madhya Pradesh’s “Yuva Swabhiman Yojana” can be emulated by other States.
- Urban Local Bodies should receive timely and adequate funds.
- Urban employment programme and MGNREGA should go hand-in-hand.
- “Green jobs” can be provided such as creation of green spaces and parks.
- Child-care, elderly care and the disabled care jobs can be provided.
- Unemployed with higher education can assist administrative functions.
- Strong transparency and accountability structures should be employed.
Conclusion
An urban employment guarantee programme has multiplier effects on the economy.