“People at any economy desiring work but not finding it according to their qualifications is called unemployment.” —Lord Keynes.
“Employment is nature’s physician and is essential to human happiness.”Unemployment has become a chronic feature of modern societies everywhere
It has become very acute in our country and assumed such a horrifying shape and dimensions that even talented administrators and educationists are finding it hard to find a suitable solution for it.
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Our development plans have completely failed to provide a reasonable level of employment for our countrymen. The number of unemployed persons on the live registers of the employment exchanges in India at the beginning of 1989 was around 306 million which has since crossed 400 million in 1999.
This figure includes not only matriculates and graduates but even post-graduates and highly qualified engineers. In fact over the years, our unemployment problem has become most intractable.
Unemployment in India is of varying kinds and degrees.
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1. Open or Structural Unemployment:
People desire to work but there is no work for them. This kind of unemployment is called open or structural unemployment which occurs due to increasing population and people’s migration towards cities.
2. Disguised Unemployment:
In this type of unemployment people seem employed but in reality is that they are underemployed and their productivity is zero. They do not get help in increasing their production.
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3. Seasonal Unempioyment:
In parts of India cultivation is not done through out year, so farmers remain unemployed for a few months. Seasonal unemployment is also found in industrial centres like, sugarcane industry, cold drinks, crackers industry etc. In those industries people get employed for special seasons only.
4. Cyclic Unemployment:
When the demand decreases for certain categories of workers, there is cyclical unemployment in India; such type of unemployment is found in cotton industries.
5. Frictional Unemployment:
Many times, people become unemployed as they have finished the work assigned to them. They try to learn new job but during this period for sometimes they remain unemployed. This is called frictional unemployment.
In western countries it is not a serious problem as they have the facilities of training those who want to learns new jobs. But in India due to lack of such facilities frictional employment is a major problem.
6. Technological Unemployment:
It occurs when we employ modern techniques to save labour. It is hard to modernise our industries but once this process starts we should not lose sight of human element.
7. Sudden Unemploymen:
Many times due to absence of rains, many villagers suffer from drought and famine. Famine causes heavy loss due to such unemployment.
Unemployment is the state of being not put to any use or profit or it simply means the state of being out of work. The problem of unemployment has aggravated over the years. The valuable human resource is not being put to proper use.
This is sheer wasting of the youthful energy, especially in a developing country like India. This has resulted in adversity, poverty, slow rate of economic growth and a general restlessness in the society.
Analysts in the planning commission say that by the year 2010 over 6 per cent of the unemployed will come from the educated class.
So far the majority of the unemployed labour force has been uneducated or semi-literate that is absorbed mainly by the public sector enterprises or in agriculture, unless the government changes its employment strategy, the educated unemployed would be the single largest casualty of this century.
In 1947, when India gained independence, we were left with a fragile economy. All the existing resources were pressed into service towards its prosperity. But the other factors which could impede the growth of our country were unforeseen.
Education, public health services, infrastructure, sanitation, housing and family planning are some of the aspects that were overlooked. A rapid growth of population, urbanisation of only a few areas and increase in poverty are the results of shortsightedness.
The teeming population means more mouths to feed and more hands to seek jobs. The growth of population has resulted in the increase in the number of children enrolling in schools and universities.
The Indian educational system still follows the pattern laid down by Lord Macaulay, which was intended to produce only ‘babus’ or clerks to serve the British. Today’s educational system has lost its relevance because it fails to confirm to the requirements in the present scenario.
The success of a candidate is not judged in terms of his intelligence. Marks are awarded to the candidate who can memorise verbatim. This technique has now become obsolete. New teaching techniques have to be introduced.
Children should be taught the applications of the practical knowledge in day to day life. They should be judged on the basis of terminal examinations and overall performance in the class. By imparting practical training the children would gain indepth knowledge of the subject.
They would gain confidence once they venture into the job market. All these recommendations have been placed before the Government by the various commissions that have studied the flows in our educational system.
The government on its part has not shown enthusiasm in bringing about a change in the system. All this have led the Indian youth to face a tough life ahead once out of college. Unemployment statistics said that of the seven million job seekers, only 3 million get jobs in the organised sectors.
The rest go into the unorganised sector, where the dividing line between business and crime is drawn. According to the Delhi Police, 94 per cent crimes are committed by “first timers” in the age group of 20 to 30; most of them are unemployed youth on crime.
The youth today is a class of its own. They wish to acquire name, fame and influence without putting in the required efforts, hence they insist on getting higher salaries right from the start of their career.
When they find it impossible to secure a job of the desired level they take up any job that is offered to them. Nepotism and bribery favour the less competent and undeserving job seekers, overclouding the talent completely. All that years of intense labour put in acquiring education seems a sheer waste.
Unemployment leads to very tragic consequences. It breeds frustration among some, discontent among others. It has forced some of the most talented scientists to migrate to some foreign countries and settle there permanently. Herculean efforts are required to solve this problem and we shall have to change our perspective completely in the future plans.
For solving this problem we have to check our fast growing population. Without population control, no plan can give us desired results. Next, we will have to revise our education policy and give an entirely different bias to our education.
The need of the hour is introduction of vocational education after Vlllth or Xth class. With the financial assistance from the banks these vocationally trained persons can set up their own enterprises. Jobs in government sector are limited.
Self employed people can absorb many a hand in their enterprise. University syllabi will have to be revised to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Now that we have entered the 21st century it looks ridiculous to argue against rapid industrialization which can go long way to provide jobs to millions of our countrymen.
India is not making great strides in the structural reform so one should not wait for an ideal job. But one should insist on decent pay scale, good working conditions and not go astray from morality. To reach the apex one has to climb the steps slowly and steadily.
One could work part time or as an intern in any firm while in college to gain practical knowledge. He could also enroll in some computer institute to gain knowledge about the medium.
Some institutions impart technical training, which could be acquired by students who are intellectually weak. All this could help them to lead a stable and normal life and acquire a good career. Parents and teachers should jointly take responsibility of children.
Parents should be more aware of the needs of their children. They should strive to gather information about the various areas that their children could venture into. Schools should set counselling centres and guide the students.
The counsellors could help them in choosing the right career. Professional knowledge could be imparted in schools by calling some well-known experts to demonstrate their expertise.
The Government on its part should make haste and implement the recommendations made by various commissions, Tourism media and telecommunications are major areas which should be targeted. FM radio stations and regional television centres would absorb many educated unemployed youth.
Tourism is capable of taking in large numbers of workers. The government should concentrate on developing these sectors. Those in power should understand that the future of the country lies in the hands of the youth.
Their betterment would be tantamount to the betterment of the country as a whole. Thus we could redeem the aspirations of the youth, thereby letting India into a prosperous era.