Thread by @ieuditmisra

Thanks to this story, there is renewed interest in understanding the truly alarming state of #UnemploymentInIndia.
I have been writing on #unemployment consistently. Here's a THREAD of some of the recent explainers I wrote for @IndianExpress (1/n)
indianexpress.com/article/busine…

This is a good starting point to understand the issue at hand and to gain some conceptual clarity.
The data in all my pieces is either from #NSSO or @_CMIE
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

Here's how we compare with our Asian peers.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

As with most things in India, the state of employment too is worse for women.
Here's a piece that not only details how bad it is but also highlights what we as an economy lose when women are not involved.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

#Unemployment problem predates #Covid.
India's record on unemployment has worsened in the last 10 years.
Between 2011-12 and 2017-18, India's total employment declined for the first time in India's history.
indianexpress.com/article/busine…

A particularly worrying aspect of unemployment in India is that unemployment levels rise with educational attainment.
This created millions of disheartened workers >> Read quote by @SMehrotra1 in the next tweet.
indianexpress.com/article/india/…

SM> “Not in Labour Force, Education, or Training” rose to over 100 million in 2017-18 from 83 million in 2011-12. “These are young people who are disheartened by the state of affairs and are neither looking for jobs, nor are they interested in studying or training themselves.”

When #Covid happened most policymakers (government and RBI) worried about recovery in GDP growth but there were good reasons why the real worry should have been the recovery in jobs.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

That's because, as it happened elsewhere in the world as well, GDP can rebound -- it is after all a monetary marker -- but the numbers of people creating that GDP may not recover.
And this creates social unrest.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

Leading to governments passing laws such as these >>
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

Even though such laws strike at the root of India being a single unified market.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

India's policymaking has been missing out on this salient point. In the absence of skilling, India needs to promote labour-intensive manufacturing.
That is why @narendramodi's #MakeInIndia has been a disaster.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

And it also explains why under Mr Modi, who came to power berating #MGNREGA as a monument of Congress' failures (and that part was justified), has witnessed the embarrassment of more and more people asking for an Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

A less understood, and even less scrutinised, gap is the lack of skilling in India.
Think of all the hoopla and noise surrounding #SkillIndia etc.
indianexpress.com/article/explai…

Some may wonder whether this stress will have political ramification.
Here's a piece detailing the stress in states that recently went to polls.
But results suggest unemployment still does not come with a political cost in India
indianexpress.com/article/explai…