Govt can't address unemployment problem: Chief Economic Advisor
New Delhi: During the launch of the "India Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education, and Skills," Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran asserted on Tuesday that it is misguided to expect the government to single-handedly address all social and economic challenges, including unemployment. Ironically, his remarks came while introducing the report co-authored by the International Labour Organisation and The Institute for Human Development.
Nageswaran, as reported by The Hindu, questioned the extent to which the government could intervene in employment matters "short of hiring more itself."
"In the normal world, it is the commercial sector that needs to take the lead in hiring," he argued, while also highlighting government initiatives such as the Skill India Mission.
To emphasize his point, the Chief Economic Advisor referred to the protagonist of the satirical film from the 1970s, Mohammed bin Tughlaq, stating, "For unemployment, he simply says, 'Look, all I will do is I’ll keep talking on every dais and stage that we have to solve the unemployment problem, and that is my contribution to solving the unemployment problem. Because this is not something I can address.'"
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The report unveiled by Nageswaran highlighted that "Employment is dominated by poor-quality employment in the informal sector and informal employment," with "Wages and earnings stagnant or declining."
In an analysis for The Wire, economist Santosh Mehrotra criticized the Narendra Modi government and associated economists for allegedly misleading the public about India's job market instead of addressing the underlying issues.
Despite Nageswaran's perspective, concerns persist regarding the Modi government's ability to fulfill its pre-election promise of creating one crore jobs for the youth. This pledge was made by Modi before assuming office as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014.
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Advocate found dead in car on Nainital court premises
Nainital (PTI): A 55-year-old advocate allegedly died by suicide after shooting himself inside his car at the Nainital district court parking lot here on Monday, police said.
According to the police, Puran Singh Bhakuni, a resident of Mallital, was found in the rear seat of his vehicle with a gunshot wound to his temple.
Police recovered a licensed pistol from his hand and a suicide note from the car’s dashboard. The note stated that Bhakuni was unwell and suffering from depression.
"We received information through lawyers around noon. The deceased was lying in the back seat with a pistol in his hand and blood near his ear," Circle Officer Anjana Negi said.
Forensic teams and ballistic experts reached the spot to collect evidence, as no witness reported hearing the gunshot.
Government counsel Sushil Sharma stated that Bhakuni left home at 9 am and was found dead at 9.30 am.
Sharma raised concerns over the circumstances, noting that the body was in the rear seat, and demanded a thorough probe to rule out foul play. Bhakuni, who worked as a notary, had married six months ago, he said.
Police took the body into custody and sent it for a postmortem to confirm the cause of death.
The forensic laboratory will examine the suicide note and the ballistics of the weapon, the police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
