Unemployment is a Major Problem in India
One of the major problems of India is unemployment. Unemployment means the state of being without any opportunity of earning one’s livelihood.
In the good, old, golden days when the population of the world was smaller, there was hardly a person who was not employed in some way or other to earn a living. But this situation no longer exists. In those days most people lived in the rural areas and depended on agriculture and cottage industries. But industrial civilization brought about a change in the situation. It introduced machines, and as a single machine can do the work of many men, it naturally threw many persons out of employment. No doubt, this industrial civilization has greatly increased the wants of and opened up many new opportunities for employment. But this increase in scope for employment has not been able to absorb the men discharged.
However, the automation of works has complicated the unemployment problem in India. The highly sophisticated machineries are run by skilled and trained people. On one hand, the skilled people get employed in these large industries. But, the large masses of unskilled Indians finds it hard get a job that suits their skills.
The population of our country is ever-rising. The abnormal rise in population has intensified the problem of unemployment in India. That is why the problem of employment has been getting more and more acute every year.
It is the responsibility of the State to provide work to the people. But the number of the unemployed persons in India is increasing at an alarming rate. More than one-third of the total population still lives below the poverty line. The number of registered unemployed, not to speak of those whose names are not in the register is quite shocking. The number of job seekers also on the register of employment exchanges is increasing by leaps and bounds. There are three classes of employment here. In the villages those people who live on agriculture work for four or five months in a year, idle away the rest of the time. During that period they practically remain unemployed. In the towns and cities there is another class of unemployed people who find no employment in the factories due to the setting up of big machines there. Lastly, there are a large number of educated people who are unemployed. The masses, the uneducated and even the illiterate adopt some way or the other by means of which they can earn their living. The educated, however cannot do this.
Problem of employment among educated youth is a serious one. For every vacancy, there are dozens of applicants. Out of many candidates who are interviewed, only few gets the job. A student dedicates several years of his life in studies. It is a worry-some condition that even after getting Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree, these youth population of India are facing unemployment problem.
Solutions: The solutions for unemployment problem in India are given below:
- The villages should become self-sufficient in their economy and the villagers would not run to the cities in search of jobs. This would ensure that the large-cities are not overcrowded with huge population. It would help maintain the balance between the job/vacancy and the job seekers.
- The system of present education should also be changed radically. Instead of giving only theoretical education the students should be given vocational training, so that they can start some work after they finish their education. These institute prepares a student with skill and knowledge for a particular trade. There is growing demand for skilled people in various industries.
- The country should promote industrialization so that more job opportunities can be created for the workers. The focus should be on heavy industries that employs thousands of man-powers of varied skills.
- Last, but not the least, to solve the problem of unemployment in India, the growth of population must be checked and the family planning programmes must be properly implemented.
