On March 11, Bahutva Karnataka, a forum for concerned citizens and organisations, released a report titled ‘Employment, Wages and Inequality’, at the Press Club, Bengaluru. The report analyses the progress in various employment-related indicators in the last decade, ever since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power, including employment generation, formalisation of jobs, and improvement in wages.
As the general elections draw near, the report also examines the progress of the NDA’s employment-related initiatives. In April 2019, for instance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that 2.5 crore jobs have been added annually. Data reveal that the share of formal employment with social security and other advantages attached to it has remained stagnant. On the other hand, the number of self-employed individuals has increased substantially. Further, while wage earnings have increased when adjusted for inflation, the increase is negligible.
The stagnation is reflected in the share of households earning less than the national floor level minimum wage (NFLMW). About 34% of households in India earned less than the proposed NFLMW of Rs. 375 a day. Further, wage inequality has resulted in widening the gap between the rich and the poor. In 2022, the top 1% and 10% of the population held 22% and 57% of the national income, respectively, while the bottom 50% held 12.7%, according to data from the World Inequality Database.
