Why Aggregate Employment in India is Shrinking?

The jobs crisis prominently visible among rural females earlier has now spread to the rural male segment

Question of livelihoods and the lived reality of people, sooner or later, catch up with any democratically elected government. One of the major promises on which 2014 elections were won was massive job creation (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/one-crore-jobs-ifbjp-comes-to-power-narendra-modi/articleshow/26165012.cms?from=mdr). Even after its stunning victory in 2019, primarily fought on the national security plank, among the first things the Modi government did was to set up a cabinet committee to create jobs (https://www.livemint.com/politics/policy/government-sets-the-ballrolling-to-create-more-jobs-and-attract-investments-1559760034591.html). Clearly, sensitivity of the livelihoods issue is recognized and likely to be taken up by the opposition in coming days, with the potential of quickly altering opinions. In fact, there was wide speculation after the resignation of the chairman of the National Statistical Commission that the employment data, showing highest unemployment rate in 45 years, was willfully suppressed. Finally, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data was made public on 31 May 2019. What does it show?

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This article was originally published in The Wire on July 15, 2019.