The employment and unemployment situation among the social groups in North East regions of India Rabichandra Singh Elangbam Research Scholar, MS University, Vadodara. Abstract : Employment is considered a powerful tool for social inclusion. To what extent the people can take part in the development process is closely associated with the issue of employment. Inclusiveness is also about a growth process which is seen to be fair by different socioeconomic groups that constitute our society. For the overall development and sustainable growth in India giving focus only to industrialized states is not a viable option in long term. Focus should also be given to states which have potential and still nascent to the industrialization. The objective of this paper is to examine the employment and unemployment situation in North Eastern Region of India among four categories-st,sc,obc and others on the basis of the findings of 55 th round, 61 st round and 68 th round of NSS report. It involves a comparative study of North East India vis-à-vis All India. This paper is limited only to the 3 rounds of NSS report. The proportion unemployed of every social category is higher than the all India rates while the literacy rates are much higher in the North east region than the all India average. This shows the lack of jobs available and also the mismatch of job matrix. High literacy rate will encourage more and more people of every social category enter the labour force. Issues such as matching the skill matrix of the labour force with the skill matrix of the labour force associated with structural change in the economy needs to be examined with qualitative research. In short, proper policy is needed for creating jobs and ushering in economic growth. Keywords: NSS report, Unemployment, Employment, Literacy rates, inclusive growth Paper type: Inclusive Growth ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1077
Introduction In an economy like India with large surplus labour, importance of an employment oriented growth is obvious. jobless; growth is certainly not the most desirable form of growth. At the same time, an over emphasis on employment generation without any regard to productivity and incomes of workers is also not desirable, particularly in an economy where productivity and income levels are generally low.(papola 2013) As we know employment is the basic and one of the most important tool for economic development and inclusion, yet the problem of unemployment is still a perennial issue which seems to stay unless our government do something as soon as possible. The root cause of all the chaos and riots taking place can also be attributed to the problem of unemployment. Inclusiveness must also embrace the concern of other groups such as the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Minorities, the differently abled and other marginalised groups. Thus the assessment of any public policy has to be benchmarked on what happens in employment and unemployment situation in the economy. Job less growth cannot be an objective of planning. The overall sustainable growth of India lies not only on focusing the major industrial states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu but also giving importance and making other states like North east region of India to grow economically which means create job opportunities. North east region of India comprises of 8 states namely Arunachal, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. It has a total area of 262,230 sq km and total population of 38,857,769 as per 2011 census which is 3.1% of total population of India. Objective and methodology This paper will analyze the employment scenario of the marginalized groups of the North East region of India vis-à-vis all India. Data from NSSO for 55 th round, 61 st round and 68 th round are analyzed along with census data. The secondary data from the mentioned rounds have been ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1078
analyzed and concised to get a better understanding of the scenario and the changes through the years. This study has been limited to only the three rounds of NSS report because the previous report on social groups were very limited to analyze, therefore the 55 th round, 61 st round and 68 th round of Employment and Unemployment situation among the social group of India has been used. Employment scenario In the 55 th round of NSS report on Employment and Unemployment situation among social groups 1999-2000, the number of workers in north east region of India on the average is lower than the national average in all the groups as shown in the table 1.1 Rural State ST SC OBC Others Arunachal 331 435 397 379 Assam 374 366 389 312 Manipur 392 391 330 385 Meghalaya 498 500 238 391 Mizoram 495 125 326 234 Nagaland 486 910 401 424 Sikkim 344 404 392 372 Tripura 294 280 308 273 North East 402 426 347 346 All India 498 428 417 372 Table 1.1 Source: NSS 55 th round ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1079
Urban State ST SC OBC Others Arunachal 210 339 234 261 Assam 387 392 309 333 Manipur 289 289 309 386 Meghalaya 298 298 211 335 Mizoram 360 360 415 207 Nagaland 282 282 473 387 Sikkim 347 347 359 364 Tripura 272 272 309 285 North East 305 322 327 320 All India 342 344 345 313 Table 1.2 Source: NSS 55 th round In the above two figures namely 1.1 and 1.2 we can see that in 55 th round in 1999-2000 the number of workers per 1000 persons in all the category for north east India is lower than the all India average. However in some states like Nagaland in rural areas the number of workers far exceeded the national average. It may be due to large number of people involved in agriculture mostly self employed. The 61 st round of employment and unemployment situation among the social group in India 2004-05 has Rural ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1080
State ST(S ST( SC( SC( OBC( OBC( Other( Others( All(s All( ) A) A) A) A) ) A) Arunachal 774 20 731 0 804 66 531 105 767 190 Assam 745 159 639 285 524 378 668 235 657 91 Manipur 726 5 660 67 743 57 872 7 801 33 Meghalaya 646 156 549 307 961 0 699 103 755 154 Mizoram 807 7 842 0 718 0 760 7 Nagaland 701 9 882 0 500 0 596 8 Sikkim 654 215 401 413 616 202 429 260 548 225 Tripura 453 426 453 458 521 376 506 287 494 119 North East 688 125 572 255 737 135 125 125 672 104 All India 495 453 342 560 562 327 233 233 517 367 Table 2.1 source: 61 st round NSS report It can be seen that regarding self employment in the ST, SC and Others group in rural areas, the north east region is above the national average. In terms of agriculture wage which consist of regular and casual wage the social groups of north east is far below the national average. This shows the formal type of employment with job security is hardly available. Urban State ST( ST( SC( SC( OBC( OBC( Others( Others( All( ALL( Arunach 216 458 181 798 792 153 386 475 317 488 al Assam 278 609 443 325 332 431 356 444 358 437 Manipur 270 517 365 63 488 286 746 101 470 304 ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1081
Meghala ya 128 552 452 497 310 603 197 742 147 598 Mizoram 385 466 293 416 78 922 276 539 381 468 Nagalan 365 527 0 1000 78 922 637 152 439 442 d Sikkim 56 809 72 154 179 645 543 383 280 569 Tripura 9 614 300 264 332 347 461 387 358 434 North 213 569 263 440 324 537 450 403 344 468 East All India 263 418 294 411 403 367 386 448 375 413 Table.2.2 source: 61 st round NSS report In table 2.2 which is of urban region shows that self employed is below the national average and for each it is not as high compared to the rural regions and SC,ST and OBC community are better in regular wage jobs than the all India average of their respective community. OBC of Mizoram and Nagaland are far better than the India average in terms of regular wage jobs and also for Nagaland the SC of regular wage is 1000 per 1000 persons. However for Others self employment is higher than national average and lower in the case of regular wage. The 68 th round portrays a similar trend in terms of rural region. The self employment in the north east region is far greater than the national average. The SC and OBC group in Mizoram are almost self employed. Even Nagaland shows a majority of them in self employed category. Tripura has the least amongst the North east region in terms of self employment and even lesser than national average. For the urban region except for OBC the rest are greater than the national average. However the extent of being greater than national average is not much for most of the states except for Nagaland. It has 877 per 1000 persons who are self employed in the SC group which means a lot in urban region. Even Manipur has more than half around 66 percent of the SC group who are self employed. Nagaland in the OBC group has 0 person per 1000 who are self employed and also for regular wage. The reason may be because of the major portion of the land involved in agricultural employment and more of the urban being contractual casual labourers. ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1082
Rural State ST( ST( SC( SC( OBC( OBC( Others( Others( All( All( Arunachal 774 136 197 590 968 6 556 254 724 163 Assam 745 44 801 41 542 212 713 106 681 118 Manipur 726 212 613 267 708 176 673 215 710 196 Meghalaya 646 153 201 257 70 133 723 120 644 151 Mizoram 807 153 1000 0 1000 0 810 190 812 150 Nagaland 701 218 851 149 1000 0 702 217 Sikkim 654 236 799 132 662 275 617 299 663 253 Tripura 453 67 364 124 450 60 378 860 418 92 North East 688 152 603 195 629 123 684 256 670 168 All India 495 63 337 85 529 90 584 133 498 316 Table 3.1 Source: 68 th round NSS report Urban State ST( ST( SC( SC( OBC( OBC( Others( Others( All( All( Arunach 222 609 87 554 244 339 264 528 239 98 al Assam 412 437 519 400 376 352 473 288 454 77 Manipur 543 233 662 210 602 232 467 404 582 30 Meghala ya 252 455 27 726 194 202 350 491 265 140 ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1083
Mizoram 348 520 0 1000 356 644 475 461 349 72 Nagalan 223 643 877 123 0 0 836 0 269 36 d Sikkim 394 357 419 581 231 717 561 370 363 33 Tripura 122 288 363 383 335 422 368 331 335 121 North 315 443 369 497 292 364 474 359 357 76 East All India 195 465 268 440 378 376 369 445 353 118 Table 3.2 Source: 68 th round NSS report Literacy Scenario Education has positive correlation with development as it imparts basic knowledge and skills to the people. It makes them aware of the general surroundings and their rights for better living. Here we look into the literacy rate of the north eastern region vis-à-vis all India. The table 4.1 and 4.2 shows the literacy per 1000 persons (15+) on general education starting from primary of all the marginalized social groups and the total vis-à-vis all India. It shows that in urban as in table 4.1 the north east region have far outperformed the national average among all the social groups. Urban State ST SC OBC Others all Arunachal 821 904 804 869 849 Assam 852 774 857 886 842 Manipur 919 686 831 843 820 Meghalaya 926 783 918 904 882 Mizoram 975 987 1000 989 988 ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1084
Nagaland 942 921 941 887 993 Sikkim 822 845 818 867 838 Tripura 897 729 796 881 826 North East 894 828 870 891 871 All India 656 608 719 848 708 Table 4.1 Source: 55 th round NSS report In table 4.2 it shows the literacy per 1000 persons in the rural region of North east vis-à-vis India. Even in the case of rural areas the north east region is above the national average, which shows literacy rate is good. Rural State ST SC OBC Others All Arunachal 412 1000 391 501 576 Assam 649 635 684 619 647 Manipur 642 768 707 703 705 Meghalaya 688 500 799 849 709 Mizoram 914 1000 830 954 924 Nagaland 768 494 830 793 721 Sikkim 637 623 610 732 650 Tripura 635 703 765 744 711 North East 668 715 702 737 705 All India 353 385 476 627 460 Table 4.2 Source: 55 th round NSS report Table 4.3 and 4.4 shows the rural and urban literacy in the 61 st round of NSS report. Similar to the 55 th round this round also shows similar trend. The literacy rate of north east region of India is above the national average. Mizoram has 100% literacy rate in OBC and Others categories. ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1085
Rural State ST SC OBC Others All Arunachal 515 1000 468 649 545 Assam 761 760 788 698 732 Manipur 698 891 817 775 759 Meghalaya 826 791 857 938 832 Mizoram 966 _ 1000 1000 967 Nagaland 786 _ 409 900 781 Sikkim 719 752 757 810 743 Tripura 688 735 838 791 760 North East 745 822 742 887 764 All India 414 456 543 677 548 Table 4.3 source: 61 st round NSS report Urban State ST SC OBC Others All Arunachal 916 990 932 849 545 Assam 884 638 882 941 732 Manipur 898 832 837 583 759 Meghalaya 946 935 884 960 832 Mizoram 992 989 1000 1000 967 Nagaland 937 1000 932 954 781 Sikkim 894 707 947 901 743 Tripura 962 777 849 905 760 North East 929 859 908 887 765 ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1086
All India 713 685 760 877 548 Table 4.4 Source: 61 st round NSS report The 68 th round of NSS report shows that the north east region of India literacy rate is above national average. So the literacy rate is pretty good in this region. SC category in Meghalaya and Mizoram is almost 100% literate. As far as pushing the limits of literacy rate in many parts of the country, north east region does not have problem in this aspect. However the quality of education is yet to be seen and this paper is limited to only till this extent i.e. literacy rate. Urban and rural combined of literacy per 1000 persons State ST SC OBC Others all Arunachal 713 729 800 748 724 Assam 823 844 825 820 825 Manipur 835 829 858 834 846 Meghalaya 954 1000 990 961 955 Mizoram 971 1000 655 943 965 Nagaland 927 949 1000 998 928 Sikkim 836 733 864 910 850 Tripura 789 785 867 867 823 N.E. 856 858.625 857.375 885.125 864.5 All India 573 610 682 811 698 Table 5.1 Source: 68 th round NSS report Conclusion The proportion unemployed of every social category is higher than the all India rates. The self employment is also higher in most of the social categories mostly in rural areas and some parts in ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1087
urban too, this is vulnerable as it shows lack of social and job security. High literacy rate will encourage more and more people of every social category enter the labour force. Issues such as matching the skill matrix of the labour force associated with structural change in the economy arises. Government needs to focus its policy towards creating more intensive and labour oriented work which can benefit the surplus labourers. The vocational training centres should be increased maintaining quality so that the mismatch of labour required and available labourer is solved. In short, proper policy is needed for creating jobs and ushering in economic growth. Reference: Govt. of India (2013) Twelfth Five Year Plan(2012-2017): Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable growth Vol. 1 Planning Commission, Delhi, Sage Publications India Pvt.Ltd. Govt. of India (2015) Employment and Unemployment Situation among social groups in India NSS report no. 563(68/10/4),Jan., Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Govt. of India (2006) Employment and Unemployment Situation among social groups in India NSS report no. 516(61/10/2),Oct., Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Govt. of India (2001) Employment and Unemployment Situation among social groups in India NSS report no. 469(55/10/7),Sept., Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Papola,T.S(2013) Economic Growth And Employment Linkages : The India Experience, ISID Working Paper: 2013/01. ISBN no. 978-81-923211-8-9 http://www.internationalseminar.in/xvii_ais/index.htm Page 1088