‘Never before in Indian history…’: Economist Surjit Bhalla says unprecedented number of jobs created under Modi government
‘Never before in Indian history…’: Economist Surjit Bhalla says unprecedented number of jobs created under Modi government
Surjit Bhalla, former India’s executive director at IMF, has said that under the Narendra Modi government, an unprecedented number of jobs have been created, averaging around 10 million over the past 7-8 years. He has pointed out that the period between 2004 and 2013, under the UPA government, saw the least number of jobs created, leading to the coining of the term ‘jobless growth’.
“The job creation by the Modi government has been the highest on record. “Never before in Indian history have so many jobs been created on an average basis. Something close to 10 million jobs over the last 7-8 years,” he told PTI.
Bhalla, who previously served on the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), is of the view that the highest number of jobs were generated during the tenures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Modi.
Bhalla’s comments were in response to a recent International Labour Organization (ILO) report, which indicated that in 2022, nearly 83 per cent of India’s total unemployed population consisted of unemployed youths.
However, he clarified, “If you look at the data of youth after the age of 29, the unemployment rate in India, which is the most of the population, most of the workforce has been somewhere around 1 per cent, which is really not much of an unemployment rate at all.” He further said that the youth are primarily seeking better job opportunities.
Bhalla pointed out that frictional unemployment is higher among the youth worldwide.
He also commented on the decrease in foreign direct investment (FDI) in India, attributing it to the government’s new policy that requires investment disputes to be settled within the country. “Now, if I am a foreign investor, why should I take that risk? And I don’t think it is the case anywhere else in the world,” he said.
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Bhalla noted that while foreigners are not increasing their direct investment, they are raising their portfolio investment. He expressed hope that the new government, which he believes will be the BJP, will reconsider this policy.
Data shows that gross FDI inflows slowed marginally to $59.9 billion in April-January 2023-24 from $61.7 billion a year ago, while net FDI inflows fell sharply to $14.2 billion from $25 billion.
FDI flows to China have experienced a dramatic decline, falling from a share of 12.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 to only 1.7 per cent in the same period of 2023. Several countries, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, and Germany, have witnessed significant gains in the global share following this decline in FDI flows to China.
Based on statistical possibility, Bhalla predicted that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to secure between 330-350 seats on its own in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The seven-phase election, which is the world’s biggest election exercise, began on April 19, with the counting of votes scheduled for June 4.
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