Echoes of Uncertainty: Youth and the Job Insecurity Crisis

Wings of fire enveloped Bangladesh, which witnessed widespread student-led protests in opposition to the reintroduction of reservations in all government jobs for the descendants of those who fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Students were anxious that in an already high youth unemployment and downsizing economic state, job insecurity would be aggravated with appointments now being given on lineage rather than merit. These protests became so hostile that it toppled Sheikh Hasina’s regime and witnessed dreadful attacks on the members of minority communities in the country. 

Bangladesh is not only a close but strategically positioned neighbour of India, with India sharing its most significant land boundary with the country and centuries-long history, making such a development of national concern. Additionally, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee’s statement of being committed to providing shelter to fleeing refugees as per the United Nations Resolution brought much attention to India’s role in this crisis. Before delving into these diplomatic complexities, one needs to ponder the country's employment state. According to the Economic Survey 2024, the unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23. The female labour force participation rate has risen to 37%, driven by rural women and their agricultural activities. But all is not as merry as it seems. 

A person is categorised as ‘employed’ if they engaged in any economic activity for at least 30 days in the previous year. The Hindu reports that nearly “one in five people in the workforce (18.3%), mostly women, do not receive any wages for their labour, as they are unpaid workers in household enterprise.” The youth unemployment rate was 10% in 2022-23, and regularly salaried workers have dropped by 1.9%. MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), the nation's most significant employment guarantee scheme, has been given an increased outlay of ₹86,000 crore compared to the previous FY. Still, it is less than the actual expenditure of ₹1.05 lakh crore.

Of the 56.6 crore labour force, 45% is still engaged in agriculture. The report necessitates the creation of 78.5 lakh jobs annually until 2030 in the non-farm sector to sustain the demand for employment. Other findings are that 57.3% of workers are self-employed, of which 2.6% are non-agricultural workers and 18.3% are engaged in unpaid labourers in households. This survey was followed by the release of the Budget of 2024, wherein three schemes focus on employment. Scheme A is a Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, which supports first-time EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) enrolments in all formal sectors with a one-month wage payout of up to ₹15,000 a month in three instalments. The eligibility limit for salary is ₹1 lakh per month and mandates undergoing an online financial literacy course. The subsidy has to be refunded to the employer if the contract ends within 12 months. Scheme B aims to create jobs in manufacturing by providing incentives in EPFO for the initial four years of employment, but it requires hiring 50 people or 25% of their current strength. Scheme C: the government shall reimburse employers up to ₹3000 per month for two years, considering EPFO contribution for each employee. Other measures include an internship scheme for the youth of India’s top companies with a monthly allowance of ₹5,000 for one year, where the companies will bear the training costs and 10% of the allowance, establishing working women’s hostels and crèche facilities through a partnership with industries, starting women-specific skilling programmes, promoting commercial access to women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs), launching a centrally sponsored scheme for skill development, upgradation of 1000 industrial training institutes, loan scheme of upto ₹7.5 lacks with a guarantee and support of ₹10 lacks for higher education to youth not benefiting from any other scheme.

The states have also taken several measures to revamp the employment system, and one example is the State of Karnataka’s recent policy decisions. The government of Karnataka had to reconsider its Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, which provided for 75% and 50% reservation in non-management and management jobs, respectively, for local candidates. Violation of this law attracted a fine of ₹25,000. The requirement for candidates to possess a secondary school certificate with Kannada as language or pass a Kannada proficiency test as specified by the nodal agency; in the absence of suitable candidates, the onus to train and employ local candidates within three years was upon the factory or establishment. A nodal agency had to be established to monitor and verify reports of employees and submit periodic reports to the government. If sufficient candidates were still unavailable, an application would have had to be submitted to the government, which would pass orders of relaxation after due enquiry. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also announced the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, which mandates private industries to only hire Kannadigas in group ‘C’ and ‘D’ jobs. These measures got this bill into much controversy from the industry and locals.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had requested a response from the Centre while entertaining a plea by the government of Haryana challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order declaring 75% reservations for the state's residents in private sector jobs as unconstitutional. 

According to the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India)  Aayog, between FY 2020-21, 7.7 million workers were engaged in the Gig Economy, which constitutes 2.6% of the non-agricultural and 1.5% of the total workforce of India. By 2029-2030, this sector is projected to employ 23.5 million, which is 6.7% of the non-agricultural or 4.1% of the total workforce. Following the State of Rajasthan’s Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023, Karnataka published the draft of the Karnataka Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024. A gig worker has been defined as “a person who performs a work or participates in a work arrangement that results in a given rate of payment, based on terms and conditions laid down in such a contract and includes all piece-rate work, and whose work is sourced through a platform, in the services specified in Schedule-1.” In Bengaluru, 2 lakh gig workers work for platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola, Urban Company, Porter, Dunzo, Amazon, Flipkart etc. This ‘rights-based bill’ shifts the burden on aggregators to provide workers social security, occupational health and safety. It safeguards gig workers against unfair dismissals, transparency in automated monitoring and decision-making, and creates a two-level grievance redressal mechanism for workers. Contracts containing an exhaustive list of grounds for dismissal will be mandated, and termination shall be provided only in writing with prior notice of 14 days. Other measures include establishing a welfare board and fund containing the welfare fee and contributions from the State and Union governments and developing a database where all gig workers will be registered.

The aim should be to adopt a ‘bottoms-up’ approach and focus on MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), which are labor-intensive, rather than solely targeting the top firms. More profound questions need to be raised. Hence, to avoid the fate of our neighbouring nation, we must act now by formulating and implementing just and practical policies after proper deliberations with all the stakeholders involved.