To sow the seeds and reap the greatest fortune- India's struggle with unemployment

  India is a land of paradox. Here, we see foreign investors investing and yet there's a section of people dying of hunger. Here, we see scientists excelling in rocket science and yet there are villages which never saw electricity.

          Foreign investors invest not for social welfare but to meet their target returns.

India before 1991 had a closed economy. The indigenous industries didn’t have a competition to evolve themselves to be better. In 1991, the Indian Economy was liberalized and foreign investors were allowed to trade in the country. It was a very important move since the intrinsic firms had to thrive through the perfect competition, it was no more oligopoly. The ace was now in the hands of the consumers. The best rates, the best products and the best deals became the motto of every firm. But the cause of poverty in the pockets of our sub-continent was the lack of skill development and the lack of education.

          The improvement in the field of technology and science happened in leaps and bounds owing to intellectuals like Sir Homi Bhabha and Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam but many villages didn’t know about the existence of electricity and light. They were kept in the dark (pun intended). These were the shortcomings of the government and the management of the country. “the clear stream of reason” had actually  “lost its way in the dreary desert sand of dead habit”. Corruption tied the prosperity of the country like the restless eagle tied to pinions.

         

        India's glory was lost for over a century or two before its independence in 1947, it survived with an mere GDP of 0.2%  according to the estimates of V.K.R.V Rao. Indian subcontinent was divided between Pakistan and India, the mills remained with one and the fertile lands with the other. There was a stagnation in growth ,thus, owing to the unlikely growth figure. Like a phoenix, India rose above its ashes gradually improving its per capita income and the growth rate. India today is a confident nation. It has unique cultural ethos .As Sashi Tharoor  pointed out , if the United States of America can be a "melting-pot" where cultures confluence from the four corners of the world, then India can be dubbed a "thali" – where diverse culture emerge from a root and spreads its reach to furthest points. India has always been an agrarian economy. Yet the service sector has been pampered along with agriculture. Both the sectors are labour intensive (though agriculture in other countries are not labour intensive but scientifically implemented but that is not the case for India)  whereas the industrial sector is capital intensive. There has been development of basic Industries in our country but not to the extent it should have been.  The question that arises now is whether, India can compete with other emerging Nations without strengthening its industrial base or not. Industrial Sector was highly ignored by the government because it didn’t absorb the human resource like the other sectors did because of the lack of skill required. According to statistics there has been a downfall in the agricultural and its allied sectors but there has been no significant development in the Industrial sector either. The service sector has reached its saturation point and is getting super-saturated  with disguised employment. Numerous inflations and depressions have affected the wages of the employees.

          

         The major concern that lies before us has been portrayed by Mr. Krugman - Nobel Laureate in Economics, that India will be prey to massive unemployment if not catered to Industries. India is remarkably an young country. The Nation's average age is 28 and 66% of the population is under 35. Therefore, our generation shall face the greatest of competition than ever before. Thousands of people fighting for 1 job post. Leading to voluntary unemployment while others shall work in a less deserved post. This will in turn reduce the demand in the economy causing depression and stagflation.

            Industrialisation basically means the creation and growth of manufacturing units. Industries create an environment where man power is utilised when educated and trained with required skills, hence, surplus labours from agriculture and services shall be utilised. According to me, industrialisation enhances the economy in a chain. Advent of Industries convert villages into towns. Bilateral businesses and small enterprises boosts. This affects the standard of education and living. Thus, affecting the society in a way better than agricultutral or the service sector can do. The economy matures relatively faster.

             Industrialisation enhances the favourable balance of payment, that is export>import. Forex, works on a simple rule, which is, greater my bullion reserve the higher my relative worth of currency.

It has a positive co-relation with the capital formation. Thus creating more employment. It will also help the agricultural sector to shift from its primitive methods to the scientific methods of farming and induce a stable economy.

          Industrialisation has a few pre-requisites, which includes development of infrastructure, support of the state and the central governments to encourage industrialization and entrepreneurship, stimulate skill development and utilization and allocation of resources. The banks and the RBI should quote lower premiums and interests for people willing to set up industries (of course after proper inspection and mortgage because none of us want a Nirav Modi Case or a Vijay Mallya case to happen again, successful entrepreneurs shall be rewarded with better quotations). The Central and the State Legislatures should also put their foot forward in ensuring that the industries don’t become the epicenter of human rights violation.

             Now it’s our time to sow the right seeds and reap the greatest fortune. It’s a challenge that India has to accept and the greatest adventure is to conquer those challenges.