Will PM Modi ever focus on job creation?

In 2015 the employment generation fell to seven-year lowest in eight leading sectors. Budget 2017-18 gives a boost to MSMEs but no relief on corporate taxes.

The Modi government presented its fourth Union Budget, and it also focuses on damage management rather than delivering what was promised during his election campaign in 2013 and 14.

The BJP’s election manifesto for 2014 reads “The country has been dragged through 10 years of Jobless Growth by the Congress-led UPA Government. Under the broader economic revival, BJP will accord high priority to job creation and opportunities for entrepreneurship.”

This document mentions job creation multiple times, and it also mentions a roadmap to achieve the same. For example, at one place it reads “Increasing Opportunities by making Job creation central to our economic model.”

Fast forward to the fourth union budget, and still, there is no plan to create jobs for the large population of unemployed youths in India. In fact, this budget is more a statement of account and in no way a document of economic policy that sets a path for reforms. 

Interestingly, a labour bureau data released last year showed that in 2015 the employment generation fell to seven-year lowest in eight leading sectors including IT/BPO, automobiles, transport, and gem and jewellery.

The union budget of 2017-18 failed to work towards creating more and more jobs, and it is more a compensatory statement to lessen the burden forced on India’s economy by demonetisation. For example, this budget focused on housing as part of the infrastructure but shied from making a substantial capital expenditure that can create jobs. 

Here is what the manifesto says “..looking to the expansion in our population as well as social and economic activities, we have to build our infrastructure in a futuristic way. The growth of this sector means the growth of cement, steel, electricity and many other associated industries and directly leads to massive job creation.”

Apart from this, the recent budget has given a real boost to MSMEs but has not provided any relaxation to corporate taxes which happens to be much higher for a growing economy. In other words, why grow bigger and have lesser benefits?

In 2014, Narendra Modi and BJP came to power by mobilising the young population of India by making various promises most of which is yet to see the light of the day. This recent budget is also a move away from the promises rather than a step closer to policy reforms.