Editorial 1 : ‘Taking G-20 to the last mile, leaving none behind’
Introduction
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — these two words capture a deep philosophy. It means ‘the world is one family’. During India’s G-20 Presidency, this has translated into a call for human-centric progress.
The post pandemic world
- The post-pandemic world order is very different from the world before it. There are three important changes, among others.
- First, there is a growing realisation that a shift away from a GDP-centric view of the world to a human-centric view is needed.
- Second, the world is recognising the importance of resilience and reliability in global supply chains.
- Third, there is a collective call for boosting multilateralism through the reform of global institutions.
G-20 Presidency
- Our G-20 Presidency has played the role of a catalyst in these shifts.
- In December 2022, when we took over the Presidency from Indonesia. This was especially needed in the context of mainstreaming the marginalised aspirations of developing countries, the Global South, and Africa.
- The Voice of Global South Summit, which witnessed participation from 125 countries, was one of the foremost initiatives under our Presidency.
- It was an important exercise to gather inputs and ideas from the Global South.
- Further, our Presidency has not only seen the largest-ever participation from African countries but has also pushed for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G-20.
- The G-20 2023 Action Plan on Accelerating Progress on SDGs will spearhead the future direction of the G-20 towards implementing SDGs.
- We believe there is a need to move away from a purely restrictive attitude of what should not be done, to a more constructive attitude focusing on what can be done to fight climate change.
- The Chennai High Level Principles (HLPs) for a Sustainable and Resilient Blue Economy focus on keeping our oceans healthy.
- A global ecosystem for clean and green hydrogen will emerge from our Presidency, along with a Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre.
Global Biofuels Alliance
- In 2015, we launched the International Solar Alliance. Now, through the Global Biofuels Alliance, we will support the world to enable energy transitions in tune with the benefits of a circular economy.
- Just like Yoga became a global mass movement for wellness, we have also nudged the world with Lifestyles for Sustainable Environment (LiFE).
- Due to the impact of climate change, ensuring food and nutritional security will be crucial. Millets, or Shree Anna, can help with this while also boosting climate-smart agriculture.
- In the International Year of Millets, we have taken millets to global palates. The Deccan High Level Principles on Food Security and Nutrition is also helpful in this direction.
- Technology is transformative, but it also needs to be made inclusive. In the past, the benefits of technological advancements have not benefited all sections of society equally.
- For instance, the billions across the world that remain unbanked, or lack digital identities, can be financially included through digital public infrastructure (DPI).
Significance of G-20 Summit in India
- Our G-20 Presidency is working on bridging the gender digital divide, reducing labour force participation gaps and enabling a larger role for women in leadership and decision-making.
- For India, the G-20 Presidency is not merely a high-level diplomatic endeavour. As the Mother of Democracy and a model of diversity, we opened the doors of this experience to the world.
- The G-20 Presidency has become a people-driven movement. Over 200 meetings will have been organised in 60 Indian cities across the length and breadth of our nation.
- Our G-20 Presidency strives to bridge divides, dismantle barriers, and sow seeds of collaboration that nourish a world where unity prevails over discord, where shared destiny eclipses isolation.
Conclusion
As the G-20 President, we had pledged to make the global table larger, ensuring that every voice is heard and every country contributes. We have matched our pledge with actions and outcomes.
Editorial 2 : How unemployment is measured
Context
When the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was released in 2017, it revealed the unemployment rate of India to be 6.1%, the highest ever recorded in India. The PLFS of 2021-22 showed unemployment reducing to 4.1%, much lower than before, but higher than some developed economies.
Defining unemployment
- Unemployment is not synonymous with joblessness.
- The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines unemployment as being out of a job; being available to take a job; and actively engaged in searching for work.
- Therefore, an individual who has lost work but does not look for another job is not unemployed.
- The labour force is defined as the sum of the employed and the unemployed.
- Those neither employed nor unemployed — such as students and those engaged in unpaid domestic work — are considered out of the labour force.
- The unemployment rate is measured as the ratio of the unemployed to the labour force.
- The unemployment rate could also fall if an economy is not generating enough jobs, or if people decide not to search for work.
Measuring unemployment in India
- The situation is complicated in a developing economy, because decisions to search for work are constrained by social norms.
- According to a 2009-10 survey undertaken by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), 33.3% of rural women and 27.2% of urban women aged 15 and above who were engaged in domestic work reported willingness to work if it were made available within the premises of the household.
- Measuring unemployment in India is difficult due to the informal nature of jobs.
- Unlike developed economies, individuals do not hold one job year-round. An individual may be unemployed this week, but may have worked as a casual labourer last month, and as a farmer for most of the year.
- The NSSO adopts two major measures for classifying the working status of individuals in India — the Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status (UPSS) and the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
- An individual’s principal status, whether employed, unemployed or out of the labour force, is based on the activity in which they spent relatively long time in the previous year.
- A person who is not a worker, according to the principal status, would still be counted as employed according to the UPSS if they were engaged in some economic activity in a subsidiary role for a period not less than 30 days.
- The CWS adopts a shorter reference period of a week. An individual is counted as being employed if they have worked for at least one hour on at least one day during the seven days preceding the date of survey.
- UPSS unemployment rates will always be lower than CWS rates because there is a greater probability that an individual would find work over a year as compared to a week.
The lockdown effect
- The lockdown announced in March 2020 was a profound disruption to the Indian economy.
- But this wasn’t reflected in the PLFS unemployment rates, which covers a period between July of one year to June of the next.
- The lockdown would have been covered in the last quarter of the 2019-20 PLFS, its after-effects seen in the 2020-21 PLFS.
- However, unemployment rates — measured both by the UPSS and CWS standards — fell in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
- Unemployment spiked during the lockdown quarter, but reduced thereafter. The CWS unemployment over the year would not show such a high rise.
Conclusion
Unemployment is shaping up to be an important factor in the upcoming election. In order to successfully tackle it, it is important to understand how it is defined and measured in a developing economy.