For the upcoming 2022-23 financial year, activists have asked for a budget allocation of rs.2.6 lakh crore, which would cover the guaranteed 100 days of work for all active job cardholders.
1. the second wave did not deter job formalization
The Department of Economic Affairs said in the economic survey 2021-22 that not only formalization of jobs continued through the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the adverse impact on formalization was also lower than in the first wave.
2. urban employment that was affected by the pandemic had recovered almost to pre-pandemic levels.
3. The government was creating jobs through capital expenditure on infrastructure and providing job support via the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MGNREGA)
4. There are areas where the public sector is generating jobs, it may not be government jobs but in capital expenditure, on infrastructure job is created by government spending. The contractors may not be government employees so there is that kind of job being created by MGNREGA.
5. For a regular government job there always had been a demand for jobs in India. Despite a spike worldwide, inflation in India was still within the tolerance threshold.
6. The international situation is clearly in an environment where there are all kinds of pressure, particularly from oil prices, supply-side shocks, chip shortages, cargo traffic, etc. They all have a strong impact.
Governments need to carefully plan monetary and fiscal policies to counter external shocks and protect the vulnerable while laying the foundation for green, resilient and inclusive growth. In our country, household consumption will be constrained due to the incomplete recovery of the labor market and inflationary pressures.
The pace of acceleration in price gains appears to have caught most economists too off guard.
