People & Their Problems

New Delhi, 17 November 2017

Employment Generation

FORGET TALK, ACTION VITAL

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi criticized the Modi Government’s neglect of small and medium enterprises (SME) as the primary reason for the looming job crisis recently. Undoubtedly, not only is there alarming unemployment but also a slow growth rate of these enterprises. True, the previous UPA Government had not done much for this sector but its condition was much better then compared to the present.

Addressing the PHD Chamber of Commerce Rahul observed that six crores small, micro and medium enterprises, which are the backbone of the economy, get very little support. These SMEs’ are situated in thousands of clusters across the country and are “rich with knowledge and skill and make up the heart of our economic legacy”, he said. Adding that development and modernization of these enterprises are only capable of meeting the Chinese challenge in terms of jobs.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has reported 15 lakh jobs were lost during January-April 2017 due to closure of micro and small enterprises.  Notably, joblessness and lack of economic opportunities due to the after effects of demonetisation have created this situation.

Former Finance Minister Congress’s Chidambaram queried: “Was it ethical to damage vibrant industrial hubs like Surat, Bhiwandi, Moradabad, Agra, Ludhiana, and Tirpur? Was it ethical to give an easy way for converting black money into white as discovered by the Government?”

Besides, 45% of bank loans are going to only 300 companies whereby the extreme concentration of bank credit to the top end of the corporate sector has begun to border on the ridiculous.  Pointed out INFC Bank CEO  Rajiv Lall, “the Prime Minister’s announcements may help rebalance this by encouraging loans to small business where the framework has already been created with the help of payment systems and bank accounts”.

Agrees Rahul, “all SMEs get as much credit as the 10 largest businesses even though this money generates 30 times more employment”. However, the recent bank recapitalization targets only India’s big corporate and throws crumbs to the SMEs who do not have the power to get their due from high profile banks.

Thus, Rahul has rightly questioned the economic flawed policy of the Modi Sarkar. “Why is the Government treating their most powerful weapon in the fight against unemployment without dignity? Why does it disrespect them and treat them like thieves?”

Asserting, jargons like “lab-to-land, organic farming, real-time data, soil health card have not been implemented as the Government lacked proper vision.” Of course, this has been in the air for more than a decade without much effective action. But now the NDA Government has been talking more than implementing action at the grass-root levels.

The culture of rewarding and lending support in various ways to big businesses has been part of our planning strategy since the last two-three decades.. From making land available at subsidized prices to environment clearance --- even if the industry pollutes the area --- has been going on for a few years.

Add to this, land for nursing homes and higher educational institutions have been made available in prime locations at subsidized rates which are used only by the rich and upper middle class due to very high rates. An example: Lakhs of people are affected by dengue in Bengal and over 100 have already died as very few visit private nursing homes and make do at crowed Government hospitals.

Sadly, the only concern of the Government is to ensure high GDP growth and not all-round development which reaches the lowest tiers of the population. Also, the ‘Make in India’ thrust is yet to become reality coupled with the wrong mindset of business houses and lack of technical expertise in increasing productivity has resulted in labour-intensive industries not prospering though wages in the country are still quite low compared to China and other Asian countries.

Pertinently, small items like scissors, nail cutters and electronic goods are mostly manufactured in China and have flooded the Indian market. Do we not have the skill or are we incapable in developing these?

Moreover, even as the Congress leader was critical of the NDA Government, it also did very little to transform the country’s planning and development policy and percolate down to the block level. There was very little encouragement to boosting the manufacturing spirit of micro and small enterprises and identifying items which should be produced herein and not allow these being imported.

Indeed, the situation is alarming with a backlog of ‘surplus workers’ that includes under-employment in all sectors according to the India Employment Report 2016 whereby it exceeded 50 million workers which does not include women. Therefore, this is not because the GDP growth has come down but due to the fact that unemployment and under-employment has been increasing and rural incomes been stagnant.

Moreover, there is  virtual stagnant agriculture with reports of farmers’ suicides indicating once again that farming is becoming an un-remunerative proposition. Technical know-how has been missing, crop losses are rampant and in most areas given the irrigation facilities three crops are not possible.

Clearly, it is time to decide whether manufacturing --- and subsequent export---- or agri development and exports should be our priority, alternatively whether a balance of both is necessary. 

Further, there is the social effect of joblessness leading the young generation to anti-social activities. Already, the NDA is playing politics with religion and trying to prove the superiority of Hinduism and that India belongs to Hindus and whatever good or creative work has been carried out has been by them. Caste politics is rampant which become violent with groups trying to assert authority.

In this scenario, there is every likelihood that youths, even those educated, with no jobs might fall into a trap and get mislead. Consequently, activities like armed robbery, rapes and killing people might intensify in the coming years if social and economic balance in society is not maintained. 

Sadly, our leaders don’t lament the widening disparity between the rich and poor, between the urban and rural sector and the causes and consequences of such development. This is certainly distressing for a country which swears in Mahatma Gandh’s name. Our politicians who are directly or indirectly involved in framing policies should read the relevant part of Gandhi’s economic philosophy and plan their actions accordingly.

In sum, unless a new policy is framed to revive micro and small enterprises in different locations in rural and semi urban areas with special incentive on labour intensive ones, the situation would turn grave day by day. Agriculture needs to be revived in a big way. These actions should be the cornerstone of economic revival. Big talks and jargons will not help instead immediate effective action and implementation would be necessary. ---- INFA            

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)