Youth employed in private sectors are boon to the state, Nagaland Minister for Rural Development, Metsubo Jamir declared on September 25, addressing an anniversary event of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), a Government of India’s youth employment scheme. They create resources while concurrently lightening the financial burden of the government, he reasoned.
As reminded regularly by those at the helm of the affairs, the Minister further stated that employment in government sector has reached saturation point. The private sector, ipso facto, was put up for sale and rightly so, as the alternative for solving the growing unemployment in the state.
The minister is right. On last count, an official data informed that Nagaland state had a total number 1,25,299 government employees as of March 31, 2018. On the other hand, ‘The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)’ released by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) in June informed that Nagaland, at 21.4%, had the highest unemployment rate among the states and union territories (UTs) in India. The applicants at the live register of employment exchanges are also rising over the years.
When the unemployment data was released, it was greeted with much scepticism. ‘Only employment in the Government sector must have been considered by the interviewees as being employed’ was one common refrain. It is a reasonable justification and lived experience in the society would affirms so.
Incidentally, the attraction for employment in government sector with its ‘associative benefits’ is also one of the main reasons why private sector is lagging behind and continues to remain a big challenge in the state.
Nonetheless, given the Government’s increasing proclivity to vend the idea of working in private sectors, it is also pertinent to examine whether the state has a well-designed policy, infrastructure and implementation process to enable its growth and attract job seekers. In doing so, the attractiveness of the private sector vis-avis the Government can be ascertained to some extent.
This can be scrutinised in two ways. When the Ease of doing Business (India) was first released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Union Ministry of Trade in 2016, Nagaland was ranked 31st among 32 states and Union Territories (UTs). Two years after in 2018, the state’s performance improved slightly to 28, out of 36 states and UTs and bracketed as an “Aspirers”. According to the DPIIT’s Business Reforms Action Plan Portal regarding the Implementation Status of reforms by States/UTs till August 14, 2019, Nagaland managed to undertake minuscule 15 reforms, out of possible 187 areas.
The government, however, also cannot be faulted for the lack trying, at least policy-wise. The Investment and Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN) created last year has also been working to “improve upon the existing investment scenario of the State.” On August 16, the State Chief Secretary also launched the Start-up Nagaland website, which among others, aims to facilitate the growth of “at least 500 start-ups in the next five years” and establish the state as a model start-up leader in the region. As of September 26, 13 Start-ups were registered on the portal.
However, while various initiatives are being undertaken, there is a general concern regarding the remuneration for work in the private sector. Take for instance, the Economic Survey 2019-20 noted that Nagaland has the lowest notified minimum wage rate at Rs. 115 per day for Unskilled Workers. It was revised to Rs. 176 per day in June but even then, Nagaland is among the bottom 5. In other areas, the gap between the two sectors is too big that the private sector job is taken as a temporary sojourn, for most job seekers.
A 2014 OECD’s study reflected that while private sector’s role in economic development is a way forward, businesses often finds difficult to work in environments, where corruption is rampant, the rule of law is not enforced, and infrastructure and services are poor.
Above all, as long as working in government sector is considered as privilege to be enjoyed by an employee without accountability and not as a mechanism to serve the people, the appeal for the sector would not subside. Accountability, responsibility and transparency are the reforming ingredients. The government should first de-glamorise the sector.
