A Shared Responsibility

Recent reports suggest that more than two crore people have lost their jobs due to the ongoing pandemic. Due to the destruction caused by this lethal virus, nearly 32.5 per cent youths below the age of 25, will remain unemployed for the time being. As usual, buoyed by these figures the opposition parties have already started attacking the government. The government on its part has created the National Recruitment Agency (NRA). The newly formed agency will streamline the hiring process by the government. According to records, every year, nearly 1.25 lakh job vacancies are filled by the government. Considering the present scenario, it is certain that the number will go up. In this context, NRA can be helpful.

But making the recruitment process much easier is different than creating enough jobs for the hopeful candidates. In a vast nation like India, we can’t solely rely upon government jobs as it amounts to just a few drops in the ocean. So, more than finding suitable candidates for the existing jobs through NRA, we should focus more on creating jobs. Here, both the government and private sectors should work hand in hand to provide India the much needed boost in the economy. So far, the private sector in India has largely contributed to the service sector and literally ignored the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. But now the time has come for the private sector to invest more in primary and secondary sectors of the economy. So that just as in the service sector, India can attain a formidable position in these sectors too. It is still a puzzle that despite being a country dependent largely on agriculture, Indian farmers are still ignorant about modern technology or inventions in this field. Clearly, the sector needs a refocus of private investment in advancements made by the world. The situation is similar in the manufacturing sector too. Not much private investment has been made. Even if investments are made, the private owners pay no heed to corporate social responsibility.  Several private investors have shown interest in utilising huge natural wealth of India only with the intention of maximising profit.

Nation building is not the job of the government alone. The government can formulate policies and provide necessary permission. However, in most of the cases, execution is the responsibility of the private sector. How miserably the corporate sector has ditched the country can be judged from the fact that despite declaring tax holiday in Northeast, no big industry has come up in the region since the introduction of the new economic policy. The apathy shown by the corporate sector towards the region is one of the reasons for which the ambitious ‘Look East’ policy has not taken off as it should have. As a result, notwithstanding being rich in natural resources, Northeast remains among the poorest regions of the country. Hopefully in the post-pandemic period, the private sector will behave in a more responsible manner than what it has done so far.