Unemployment is a myth

As the prime minister wisely pointed out not long ago, nothing stops our youth from selling fried snacks for a living. Representation pic

I don't believe media reports about unemployment being on the rise in India. According to some published a few weeks ago, the country's unemployment rate crept up to nearly 8 per cent in December. Think tanks then pointed out that it was more than 7 per cent in 2020 and for most of 2021. Apparently, our rate exceeded emerging economies like Bangladesh (5.3 per cent), Mexico (4.7 per cent) and Vietnam (2.3 per cent), which is obviously impossible because we all know that India fares better than Bangladesh, Mexico, and Vietnam. We may not have facts or figures to back this argument, but that shouldn't stop us from believing it to be true.

There have been warnings not just about how bad things are but how they might get worse. Three-quarters of our workforce are self-employed and casual, apparently, and also lack social security benefits. Only 9 per cent of the country's workforce has access to formal jobs with social security like healthcare, retirement savings schemes, or maternity benefits. I laugh at these warnings because they are so far from the truth.

In my humble opinion, unemployment is just a matter of perspective. If India's youth really had nothing to do, that would be a cause for worry. All signs show us there is more than enough for them to work on though, if they simply pull up their socks and get down to it. As the prime minister wisely pointed out not long ago, nothing stops our youth from selling fried snacks for a living. It may require marginally less intelligence than working in, say, advertising or HR, but it's certainly a more honest way of making a living. If our youth can all sell snacks but choose not to, is it fair to say they have no opportunities?

In 2019, the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) reported that India's unemployment rate in 2017-18 was the worst in over four decades. How is this accurate given that we have no information on what is considered employment in the first place? If we haven't seen these young men and women outside our offices waiting for an opening, who is to say the figures aren't made up?

I believe the government should step in and issue guidelines on what is and isn't considered employment. Is living with your parents a sign of unemployment, just because most young people can no longer afford a home in urban India? Is not being in an office a sign of unemployment, given that so many young men appear to spend their time attending political rallies, riding motorcycles while holding flags, or gently coercing minorities into marrying people based on religious beliefs? Women now account for less than 19.9 per cent of the total labour force in the country. Is that a sign of unemployment just because they don't feel safe working with Indian men? Since when was wilfully choosing to stay away from work the same as being unemployed?

What India's youth need to do is give up on inane goals like permanent jobs, office-subsidised healthcare, and air-conditioned offices. They need to look for jobs that really matter, and tasks that benefit society at large. More youth should consider joining politics, because it is an underrated profession that doesn't get the respect it deserves. We write off politicians as uncouth, immoral, corrupt human beings, but fail to acknowledge that they also spend a lot of time in Parliament trying to make things better for their families and relatives. The number of people they individually work for may be woefully small but, collectively, they often manage to boost the fortunes of a few hundred people every year, which isn't something to be sneered at. If more of India's youth become politicians, they can do for their families what our current ministers have done for theirs.

The Covid-19 pandemic has, in recent months, prompted a slew of opinion pieces around the world on whether we place way too much importance on a university education. Is a degree overrated, they ask? Does one need a college degree to have a decent life? Do companies really need graduates from respected institutions to guarantee profitability? These are the kind of questions India's youth should be asking themselves. There are enough professions that don't require intelligence, education, or even a conscience. All they have to do is identify them.

We live in a country where even an uneducated, morally bankrupt individual can aspire to become prime minister. If that doesn't make us a land of opportunity, what does?

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.