Skilling India: An Aspirational Challenge
117
education, that is, over half of the labour force
between 15–59 years of age has extremely low
levels of education or none at all.
11
Low levels
of education in the labour force, especially
among those engaged in agriculture, makes
it more difficult for the latter to move into
activities in urban areas, except as labourers
in the construction industry. The low level of
general education alsomakes itmore difficult
to provide vocational training to youth who
have not even completed elementary educa-
tion (that is, until class 8).
The second challenge is to ensure that all
children between the ages of 6 and 14 are
completing elementary education by the
end of the Twelfth Plan, as required by the
Right to Education Act, 2009. It is difficult
to prepare a teenager for a vocation if he/
she has not completed at least eight years
of schooling. School dropout rates now are
high and if they continue to be so, it would
be difficult to skill such youth into compe-
tent tradesmen or craftsmen.
TheNational Sample Surveys find that the
labour force participation rate andwork force
participation rates are declining. The decline
is on account of falling participation rates
of women in labour and work force since
2004–05 (Table 6.1). The falling participa-
tion of womenwhen the economy is growing
and greater opportunities formainstreaming
women empowerment programmes are pro-
vided in the country is a matter of concern.
Rural women participation in labour force
has declined sharply, despite the opportuni-
ties created byMNREGS andNRLM. A study
by the ILO
12
concluded that
policy-makers should be more concerned
about whether women are able to access better
jobs or start a business, and take advantage of
new labour market opportunities as a country
grows (and hence contribute to the develop-
ment process itself). For this reason, policy
interventions should tackle a range of issues,
including improving access to and relevance
of education and training programmes,
promoting childcare and other institutional/
legal measures to ease the burden of domes-
tic duties, enhancing safety for women and
encouraging private sector development in
industries and regions that would increase
job opportunities for women in developing
countries.
According to the usual status (UPSS),
at the all-India level, number of persons in
the labour force as on 1 January 2010 was
about 468.8millionwhich increased to 483.7
million as on 1 January 2012. This indicates
an increase of 14.9 million of labour force at
the all-India level between 1 January 2010
and 1 January 2012.
Categories of employment:
Majority of
the work force is self-employed followed
by casual labour (Table 6.2). While regular
Table 6.1:
Employment indicators by UPSS
13
basis (in percentage)
Years
Labour force participation rate
Work force participation rate
2004–05
2009–10
2011–12
2004–05
2009–10
2011–12
Rural
44.6
41.4
41
41.7
40.8
40
Male
56
56
55
55
56
54
Female
33
27
25
33
33
25
Urban
38.2
36.2
37
36.5
35
36
Male
33
56
56
55
33
55
Female
18
15
16
17
18
15
Total
43
40
40
42
39.2
39
Source:
NSS 61st, 66th and 68th rounds on key indicators of employment and unemployment in
India.
11
Mehrotra, Gandhi, Sahoo, 2013, Estimating the
Skill Gap.
12
Female labour force participation in India and
beyond, Ruchika Chaudhary and Sher Verick, ILOAsia
Pacific Working paper, 2014.
13
Usual Principal Subsidiary Status (UPSS) is the
usual status of an individual determined on the basis
of his usual principal status and usual subsidiary status
taken together.
Table 6.2:
Employment by different categories
Category of worker 2004–05 2009–10 2011–12
Self-employed
56.40% 50.70% 52%
Regular and salaried 15.20% 16.40% 18%
Casual labour
28.30% 33% 30%
Source:
NSS 61st, 66th and 68th rounds on key
indicators of employment and unemployment in India.
