When unemployment among youth is the norm, you are not going to find any shortage of protesters, whatever the cause.
THE VIOLENCE IN Tamil Nadu, which continued well after it was clear that the state government would pass a bill to enable jallikattu, a traditional bull-taming sport, demonstrates two things: one, there are too many malcontents and trouble-makers in society willing to resort to violence if given half a chance; and two, the growing cohort of unemployed youth is rapidly turning into a demographic disaster in the absence of fast jobs growth.
Somewhere between 2011-12 and now, India’s jobs machine ground to a near halt. An economy that was creating 7-8 million non-agricultural jobs between 1999-2000 and 2011-12 suddenly blew a fuse and stopped generating them in the numbers needed (12 million per annum is the required annual increase in workforce). A Labour Bureau report of 2013-14 showed that barely six out of every 10 people in the working age population got year-round work. But—here’s the link to India’s youth-led mutinies—unemployment is highest for new or younger job market entrants, ranging from 10.2 per cent for 15-17 year-olds, 9.4 per cent for 18-29 year-olds, and less than 1 per cent for 30-plus adults.
This story is from the February 2017 edition of Swarajya Mag.
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This story is from the February 2017 edition of Swarajya Mag.
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