Description

Poverty and unemployment are the two most formidable problems of the Indian economy. Developing employment opportunities has been an important objective of development planning in India. Though employment has increased over the years, growth in the population and the labor force has aggravated the unemployment problem year after year. The achievement of an employment-for-all objective is nowhere in sight. Due to lack of employment opportunities, millions of people still live below the poverty line. More distressingly, there is no hope of the two formidable problems of poverty and unemployment being solved in the near future. India's tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07) document has recognized that the unemployment problem would be aggravated, much less mitigated, during the Plan period and thereafter. The Indian economy took a new direction when the government announced its new industrial policy in the Parliament in July 1991. Since then, the economic reforms process has encompassed all areas of the economy. The wide-ranging reforms, initiated and implemented since 1991, have induced greater efficiency and competitiveness in all spheres of economic activity. How these reforms have impacted on the growth pattern, in terms of employment generation and reduction in poverty, is a matter of intense debate among economists and social scientists. This book examines these concerns, contributing to the existing and growing body of literature on various aspects of economic reforms in India.