83% of Indian youth are jobless: ILO report flags unemployment crisis in country

In a development which is all set to embarrass the BJP-led central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and can add a potent arsenal in the Opposition’s armour during poll season, is the report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD) on Tuesday (March 26).

Titled ‘India Employment Report 2024’, the report states that an overwhelming 83 per cent of the youth in India are unemployed. Notably, the number of educated youth who are unemployed nearly doubled is also on the rise, it said.

The report jointly put together by the ILO and IHD said the number of the educated, possessing at least secondary education, among the unemployed doubled from 35.2 per cent in 2000 to 66 per cent in 2022.

“This indicates that the problem of unemployment in India has become increasingly concentrated among the youth, especially the educated ones in urban areas,” the report observed. The study also found that employment and underemployment of youngsters saw a rise during the period from 2000 to 2019. However, there was a decline during the COVID pandemic.

Significant variations in employment outcomes exist across states, with certain states consistently ranking lower in employment indicators. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh have struggled with poor employment outcomes over the years, reflecting the influence of regional policies.

Five policy outlines

About 7–8 million youths will join India’s labour work force in the next decade, according to the ILO-IHD study, which has outlined five policy areas for the government to work on. These are job creation, improving the quality of employment, addressing inequalities in labour market, strengthening both skills and policies of active labour market and finally, bridging the knowledge deficit on labour market patterns and youth employment.

Ironically, it was none other than Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran who did the honours and released the report.

In an attempt to defend the Union government, which has often been accused of not paying attention to job creation and tackling the major unemployment problem, CEA Nageswaran said that it was ‘not correct’ to think that the government must intervene for ‘every social or economic problem.’

“We need to get out of this mindset. In the normal world, it is the commercial sector, and those who engage in for-profit activity, who need to do the hiring,” he remarked.

Opposition lashes out

After the release of the report, the Opposition parties like the Congress, TMC and CPM lashed out at the Modi government over the findings.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge blamed the Modi government for its “pathetic apathy” towards the youths of the country.

Joblessness a 'ticking bomb'

“Our Youth is bearing the brunt of Modi Govt's pathetic apathy, as ever-rising Unemployment has destroyed their future. ILO & IHD Report conclusively says that the Unemployment problem is grim in India. They are conservative, we are sitting on a 'ticking bomb' of joblessness ! But Modi Govt's Chief Economic Advisor protects the dear leader, by saying "Govt. can’t solve all social, economic problems such as unemployment," Kharge wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Moving on to the Congress party’s Five Nyay guarantees for the country’s youth, Kharge concluded his post, saying, “Modi ji promised 20 Crore Jobs in 10 Years, but snatched more than 12 Crore Jobs from the Youth!”

The report has undoubtedly created ripples across the political spectrum with the Opposition parties set to make the rising unemployment figures an election issue.

There is no official statement from the Centre on the report yet.