UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA

Unemployment is measured by counting individuals who are employable and actively seeking a job but are unable to find a job. This is how in general unemployment is defined but at ground reality unemployment should include anyone who is above 18 and not earning his/her livelihood on his own.At present, unemployment is a focal problem of most of the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world. In a nation like India, where 70% of the population is of youth, what are the causes of unemployment? There are many reasons. Some of them are:- Increasing population, seasonal occupation, joint family system, and slow growth of industrialization. What leads to highly unemployed youngsters is the sick mentality of the society about the type and level and status of position in the working field. People seek government jobs as it continues to pay even after retirement and after the death to the survivors. In India people have a biased mentality about the post of a working candidate.  A person who is working as a waiter, as a sweeper, as a clerk, as a guard, or as a servant are considered to be backward, beneath, and inferior. In a job, status and reputation should not matter.  What is important is the struggle and the efforts which a person is making to earn. Social norms, social pressure and status of your post is so dominant over the youngsters of the nation that after graduation they waste half a decade in preparation for examinations of various jobs and hence remain unemployed. This leads to an increase in unemployment. Another aspect of unemployment which one can analyse is rural vs urban. In remote village areas of the country very few people have their own land for agriculture and hence remain unemployed, moreover those who have land, all the members of family work on the same land, hence they are working but not being paid for it, same is applied to the family businesses, this is called as disguised unemployment. In urban areas, people don’t get opportunities to learn skills, and hence remain unemployed. We can look at unemployment from the perspective of public vs private sector. In the public sector, getting a job is tough because of improper functioning of administration, non-consistency in conduction of examinations and interviews, not announcing results for years, delay in training and recruitment, leading to unemployment among skilled, deserving, and eligible young workers of the nation. In the private sector  there is no permanent guarantee of the job. Today if an individual is hired, tomorrow he/she can be fired. This is called insecurity in jobs and hence people look towards government jobs. Within the last two years, 2020 and 2021, when the world was suffering from the Covid -19, India has faced a huge increase in unemployment. The unemployment rate in India, amidst lockdown and restrictions on mobility, is 12.81% as of June 8th 2021 based on the data provided by the CMIE. (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) In 2020, during pandemic about 1 crore people who were having job earlier lost the job and became unemployed. Many businesses and shops vanished and hence nowadays it is more critical to find a job for a recent graduate with no experience. Number of people looking for a job is increasing day by day, and simultaneously  opportunities are decreasing day by day, leading to a high increase in unemployment in the nation. Being unemployed or unemployment word is so negative and demotivating within itself, which can make an individual feel worthless Many times people so desperately want to earn a living but cannot do so, they try but remain empty handed, which affects their mental health and mental stability, leading to depression and sometimes they decide to kill themselves. According to a report in the Times of India newspaper, 1.3 lakh suicides have been reported in 2019 in India. This is a huge cause of concern for the country and it’s administration.What is the impact or consequences of unemployment on our nation? The most major one is the decrease in GDP rate, decrease in economic health of the nation, increase in poverty, excessive use of resources and no output to the nation at the same level i.e more consumption and less services given by the people to the nation. It’s very surprising to know that a 1 % increase in unemployment reduces the GDP by 2 % which is a cause of worry for the development of nation. Unemployment is the most serious problem an individual, a community, society and a nation faces, which should be resolved soon. This can be done by providing large opportunities, rising above social norms and sick mentality, improvement in working of administration, concern of the government, and the most important of all will power and determination of an individual who is able to work.