New Delhi: Five lakh jobs were created in
India in the third quarter this year after the government
announced stimulus packages, an ILO report released on Monday said
but warned against early exit from such support measure,
saying it could delay recovery of the job market for years.
The report said while five lakh new jobs have been
created in some high growth industries, the overall earnings
of workers have, however, declined by 1.3 per cent in the
second quarter.
"The jobs created are of a contractual and casual nature
without security of employment and social protection," the
report titled 'World of Work Report 2009: The Global Jobs
Crisis and Beyond' said.
Stating that the slowdown in the economy has had an
adverse impact on the quality of employment, the report
stressed on the need for continued monitory and fiscal support
for a sustained recovery process of the employment sector.
"Adverse impact on the quality of employment could
further increase informal employment, which currently stands
at 93 per cent of the workforce," the report said.
Although the report finds employment in high carbon
intensive industries relatively low in India (15 per cent)
compared to other countries, it said measures to increase
energy efficiency would prove beneficial for supporting more
productive and greener employment opportunities.
The ILO report said the length and scope of the jobs
crisis could be reduced if stimulus measures and overall
policies were focused on the approach of the ILO's 'Global
Jobs Pact' adopted earlier this year to which India along with
several other countries were signatories.
The jobs pact presents an integrated portfolio of tried
and tested policies that puts employment and social protection
at the centre of crisis responses.
The report underlined that "a continuation of fiscal
stimulus measures, if well focused on jobs, would raise
employment by 7 per cent world wide compared to an early
exit situation".
It said investments in infrastructure projects and
agricultural development and continued support to small
and medium enterprises lending would enable both an increase
in productivity and ensure productive employment.
The report favoured increased allocation for NREGA and
extending the programme to urban areas to help address
under-employment.
It also said remittances to the country remained stable
at around USD 52 billion or 4 per cent of GDP in 2008-09.
PTI
First Published: Monday, December 07, 2009, 22:38