Unemployed Youth In India

Increase in the share of youth population due to demographic ‘dividend’ or the ‘youth bulge’ seems to be one of the sources of future economic growth in India. Although with increase in school and college enrollment rates, the proportion of youth in the labour force has been declining, their high proportions in the labour force indicate that the problem of youth unemployment and underemployment would remain a serious policy issue for many more years to come in India. One of the hardest hit segments of the world population is its youth, who are finding it increasingly difficult to get jobs according to IGIDR report.

 

Over four crore unemployed youth in India are searching for jobs daily? The state and central govts are making tall claims that they have created good job opportunities and the unemployment problem is in vain. But the latest statistics reveal that over seven crore qualified un employed youth are searching for right jobs across the country and they are getting frustrated due to non availability of right job. I think the govt must take this as serious as the youth may go to wrong way and start living.

 

At the core of India’s unemployment trap is a set of complex issues, including a skills deficit, an outdated educational system and corruption at the grassroots level. These issues are deeply interconnected, and solving one might not really solve the ultimate problem – youth unemployment.

 

The global crisis, caused largely by the developed world’s financial excesses, and the ensuing balance sheet repairing have battered the world economy in a way not seen since the Great Depression. And globalization has meant that countries and economies not party to the excesses have also been impacted.

However, youth unemployment remains high in India, and it hasn’t been helped by the global crisis. The latest World Development Report by the World Bank says India’s youth unemployment — as a percentage of the youth work force — was 9.9% for males and 11.3% for females in 2010. In 1985, the figures were 8.3% and 8%, respectively. Youth unemployment in India, like most countries, has consistently been above the national average. But of late, the data indicate rising youth unemployment, now virtually 50% more than the national average, or total unemployment rate. The projected unemployment rate remains unchanged from the peak of the crisis in 2009, and is slightly up from last year's 12.6 percent, according to the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012 report.

Many young people are trapped in low-productivity, temporary or other types of work that don't pave the way for better jobs. In developed economies, youth are increasingly employed in temporary and part-time jobs while in the developing world many perform unpaid work supporting informal family businesses or farms. The challenge for the government is to ensure that appropriate policies are framed and meticulously implemented to meet the future aspirations of India’s youth. The adverse impact of the global crisis sends out a strong message. India has its work cut out.

40 Million Unemployed with an Unemployment Rate of 9.4%

The survey was conducted in 28 States/UTs spread across the country in which about 99 per cent of the country’s population resides. It estimates that the population of the country is 1182 million with 63.5% in the working age of 15 – 59 years; however, not everyone who is in the working age is interested in joining the work force, so the worker population ratio is much lower. There are an estimated 238 million households, of which 172 million are rural and 66 million are urban. Out of the total population of the States/UTs covered, 872 million persons (73.8 per cent) live in rural areas and 310 million persons (26.2 per cent) live in urban areas. In the Indian context, – 359 persons per 1,000 are either working or interested to work, and this is called the Labor Force Participation Rate. So, out of an estimated population of 1,182 million – 424 million persons are either employed or are interested in working. The unemployment rate of 9.4% means that out of those 359 persons per thousand, or 424 million people – there are 9.4% or about 40 million who were unemployed.

Conclusion:

Skill improvement is one of the important things needed in active labour market policies. Expanding capacity through private sector initiatives in higher learning needs to be explored while maintaining quality. Investments are important for higher growth which can improve employment if invested in labour intensive sectors. One of the reasons for the low growth in employment in the post reform period could be low growth in public investment. Conditions of work and promotion of livelihoods are important for raising the incomes of youth workers. India has not been able to take advantage of ‘demographic dividend’ because of low education and skills. “It is important to realize however that we can only reap this demographic dividend if we invest on human resource development and skill formation in a massive way and create productive employment for our relatively young working”

Know more about SERUDS activities for the youth unemployment programs at  www.serudsindia.org

Role Of NGOs In Imparting Quality Education For Deprived Children

The Planning Commission report says a child is an invaluable asset to any society and has a definite role to play in the development of the nation. The future of a country depends on how its children are being nurtured to become the future citizens of the country. Some of the children, forced by their socio-economic conditions, take up work at a crucial formative age.

The 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India made education a fundamental right. And now, after enforcement of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 from April 1, 2010, it has implications for fulfilment of the obligation of the state to ensure that every child is in school. But, despite the enforcement of the act, a number of children do not attend schools and are engaged in some form of work. The review of the magnitude of child labour in the country suggests that as per the Census 2001, there are 1.26 crore economically active children in the age-group of 5-14 years. The number was 1.13 crore in the 1991 Census.

It is unfortunate that the problem of child labour exists to a large extent in the country. In fact, child labour is the result of various ills in society. Poverty and illiteracy are two such manifestations that are visible but there are many other factors that are inbuilt in the society, like the position of women in the family, traditional and cultural practices and feudal attitudes in the country. These factors perpetuate this problem.

Some Facts :

In India, only 53% of habitations have a primary school.

In India, only 20% of habitations have a secondary school.

On an average an upper primary school is 3 km away in 22% of areas under habitations.

In nearly 60% of schools, there are less than two teachers to teach Classes I to V.

On an average, there are less than three teachers per primary school. They have to manage classes from I to V every day.

Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls.

1 in 40, primary school in India is conducted in open spaces or tents.

More than 50%  of girls fail to enroll in school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12.

50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school

NGO’s role

Undeveloped and developing countries such India  in which number of children  are wandering on roads without education. In India, even government arranges free and compulsory education to children but government of India fails to give shelter to such children. To fill up that deficiency, many NGO organizations came to picture to provide facilities.

India NGO has been successful to a large extent in extending quality educational for slum children in various parts of India. In fact these organisations have been immensely successful in improving the quality of primary education. The purpose of education is to create responsible citizens and Educational NGO is working towards this mission. 

In India we find several millions of children deprived of their right to education. Even though Indian government has been taking up several welfare programs and activities, they are not reaching the target group due to some selfish middlemen. India NGO has proved to be a boon in disguise in this situation. Several NGO are operating in various cities in India trying to uplift poor and downtrodden people. 

Time and again it has been proved that single handily neither government nor India NGO can be successful in their tasks. Collaboration between these two can accomplish the task more easily.

Sai Educational Rural & Urban Development Society (SERUDS) is a voluntary organization (VO), Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), non profit charity created by likeminded people who are up to making a difference in the society by working for the holistic development of poorer communities focusing on care for elderly, destitute women and underprivileged children. SERUDS has been working in the rural & urban slums for the last 8years and has made inroads into rural & urban development in the state of Andhra Pradesh. 

SERUDS NGO India works for the empowerment of under privileged, vulnerable and needy sections of the society particularly Children, Women and Youth. SERUDS approach is to address the health, education, environment, economic, cultural issues of the society. SERUDS India NGO aims to facilitate for the self-sufficiency and overall development of all irrespective of caste, creed and gender. SERUDS a NGO in India works in diversified activities like awareness creation, capacity building, skill development, sustainable livelihoods, rural & agricultural development and slum development. It also provides relief to victims of atrocities, harassment and natural calamities like drought & floods.  Visit http://www.serudsindia.org  for more details on the activities .

SERUDS has been a committed organisation and to continue the good work are looking for funds. If you are seriously interested in participating yourself for the social cause you can donate using the following link:

 http://www.serudsindia.org/donate.html