While it will be a matter of record that the Indian economy was in a much uncomfortable position way before the onset of Covid-19 pandemic, various data that are now emerging have underlined the extent of damage emanating out of the health catastrophe. Unemployment has been perennially a big issue in the country and the latest report on it based on a sample household survey conducted by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) will remind once more how much the situation has worsened. The principal takeaway of the report is that during April- July, 1.89 crore jobs have been lost from the entire economic ecosystem. Making good the loss will mean creation of jobs to an equal extent or thereabout. But, the current ‘body language’ of the core sectors that are normally accepted as reliable mirrors of the economy, as well as many allied ones will exude little hope. Regarding economic matters, it’s often said if the fundamentals are strong, a recovery, however far-fetched it apparently appears, is bound to come sooner or later. It was on the strength of this the Indian economy not only survived the great global economic depression during 2008-2009, but also bounced back within an enviably short period. But this time it is a way different situation as various data prepared and shared by a host of agencies over the last few years, including the government ones have carried a grave indication that the fundamentals, unfortunately, are being gradually weakened.

CMIE reports on Indian economy usually enjoy high acceptability among economic policy makers and think-tank and the current one has received an added acceptance because of the sheer size of the sample-1 lakh households from 320 urban centres and 74,000 households from 4,000 villages across the country have been covered which is higher than the government’s survey wing, NSSO for similar household surveys. As per the report, in April immediately after the lockdown there was a loss of around 1.77 crore salaried jobs, followed by evaporation of another 1 lakh jobs in May. While June gave some hope as 39 lakh jobs were gained, in July, it was back to square one when 50 lakh jobs went out of the market, making it a net total of 1.89 cr job loss since April.

Putting blame entirely on the pandemic and lockdown(s) will be far from convincing as there is a substantial ease since a couple of months. When a turnaround still seems a distant possibility, then the problem, for sure, is much bigger and perhaps deep-rooted.

It’s time to address them. Unemployment, which is a curse for the country’s youths mustn’t be allowed to sustain. For a true ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’, beating it should be the first priority. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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