India’s rapidly growing workforce presents a significant challenge, as the country needs to create nearly 80 lakh jobs annually in the non-farm sector.
Noting that productive jobs are vital for growth and inclusion, the Economic Survey Report 2022-23 says India’s workforce is estimated to be nearly 56.5 crore and will continue to grow until 2044. It estimates that the Indian economy needs to generate nearly 78.51 lakh jobs annually in the non-farm sector to cater to the rising workforce. However, to create these many jobs, there is a need to create the conditions for faster growth of productive jobs outside of agriculture, especially in organized manufacturing and services, even while improving productivity in agriculture, the Survey adds.
To realize the collective goal of ViksitBharat@2047 in the medium term, the survey emphasized aligning education and skill policies with each other. It has been recommended to adopt a laser-like focus on learning and skilling outcomes which need to be aligned with each other, as well.
The Economic Survey 2023-24, tabled by Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, says new skilling initiatives and revamping the existing skilling initiatives should continue to be of high priority to the Government.
The Survey also calls upon the industry to take the lead in skill creation saying it has much to gain from taking the initiative with academic institutions rather than leaving it only up to the governments to do the heavy lifting. Indeed, it should be the other way around, says the Survey.
Highlighting the significant improvement in the proportion of skilled people across all socio-economic classifications, the Survey mentions that 4.4 percent of the youth in the age cohort of 15-29 years have received formal vocational/technical training, while another 16.6 percent received training through informal sources.
The Economic Survey says that skill development is at the center of changes happening in education and labour markets amid the global megatrends, such as automation, action against climate change, and the digitalisation of products and services, which are changing the nature of work and skills demands. It says that with one of the youngest populations, a median age of 28, India can harness its demographic dividend by nurturing a workforce equipped with employable skills and prepared for the needs of the industry.
The Survey calls for maximizing the outcomes from various skilling initiatives through convergence, and utilisation of synergies with other employment-centric programmes which can further mutually benefit the two verticals.
Linking skill development with Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and employment-linked incentive schemes in high growth potential sectors like toy, apparel, tourism, logistics, textiles, leather sector etc. would aid in upgrading of skills as production moves up the value chain. On the apprenticeship promotion front also, there remains considerable scope to add flexibility to the regulatory framework, the Survey noted.
