By Gitanjali Maria:
Unemployment is one of the serious challenges that is staring in the face of many economies today, especially after the recession of 2008. More recently, there have been concerns of lesser number of job vacancies even in emerging countries like India and China, which were least hit by the recession, due to higher inflation rates and slower pace of economic growth. Unemployment is one of the main reasons for poverty as also one of the causes for rising crime rates and suicides. Eradicating it is one tough task and a major concern not just for the governments but also for all those who can actively contribute to be job-creators and not job-seekers.
Recently, I was amazed to see a large number of people waiting in lines patiently to register for a part-time job with a dozen or so vacancies and that was to pay less than Rs. 4000 a month. The queue of people included graduates, engineers and even some post graduate degree holders. This clearly indicates that even the educationally qualified today find it difficult to earn gainful employment. A serious analysis of where we have gone wrong is essential to understand the problem of unemployment.
The system of education in India today creates store-houses of knowledge devoid of creative thinking and new ideas. It is stereotype and rot learning that our system encourages. Our education system, barring a few exceptions, lacks the foundations to nurture entrepreneurs, who are willing to take risks, learn from mistakes and create empires of their own. We rear children to become doctors and engineers today without knowing where their true abilities lie. And these pseudo-educated knowledgeable citizens find it hard to contribute to the nation’s economy effectively as well as to their own income and pockets.
Today, in India we face a shortage of skilled labour and manpower in blue collared jobs like those of electrician, plumber, coconut-tree climber and so on. The persons involved in these professions today can demand more as the supply of such workers is low. Various subsidy and welfare schemes by the government have also given birth to the new practice of ‘full stomach without work’ through free rice, television and grinder schemes by some governments. These schemes encourage laziness and a lack-luster attitude towards taking up jobs and eventually erode the government exchequers. Hence welfare schemes should not be allowed to go over-board; After all, in the long run, teaching a person to fish is much more valuable than feeding him a fish everyday. Bringing in skilled labour force for such manual works and also fixing a scale of wages for them will help encourage people to take up these jobs as well provide the industry with sufficient manpower in the form of labourers.
India also needs many more new Tata’s and Birlas and Ambanis to increase the output of our manufacturing sectors. India today seriously needs to grow in the manufacturing sector to sustain its high GDP growth rates. We as youngsters should pool in our ideas and work towards creating new entrepreneurial ventures. As job-creators we can form that part of India that offers livelihood and support to millions. Youngsters with ideas for ventures should not hesitate to take risks but should do what their heart tells them to do and not follow the herd. Eradication of unemployment and creation of jobs is the combined effort of the government and the spirited and dedicated citizens with a vision. Let us strive to be one among them!
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