In an interview with The Hindu, World Bank’s former chief economist Kaushik Basu, voiced his concerns over the increasing unemployment and poor economic performance of the country.
Basu, former chief economic advisor to the government, said, “My immediate concern is the job situation. It is true that we don’t have detailed data on employment. But whatever piecemeal numbers are coming out suggest that unemployment and underemployment are growing.”
Basu spoke on the issue of growing attacks on minorities and its negative impact on India’s global image.
“The increasing divisiveness and incidents of hatred directed at minorities, which are being covered by the international media are giving India a bad image and can hurt tourism and also foreign investment. This is unfortunate because that is not what India is. Such acts need to be condemned and controlled, otherwise this will do long run damage to India’s economy,” he said.
When asked if EPF or New Pension Scheme data is appropriate to assess employment generation in the country, Basu said, “These proxies are not representative enough for a large nation like ours. In India, the trouble is a huge amount of employment is in sectors that are not formally registered. So unless you directly go to households, like the National Sample Survey does, and check what’s happening there, you do not get an accurate picture.”
Basu also emphasised on the need to revive private investments in India as they have been falling for the last four-five years. “And this can take a toll on the growth rate — it is probably already doing so,” he added
Referring to Transparency International’s report, Basu told The Hindu that the corruption incidences in the country have actually increased. He said, “India’s rank in terms of corruption perception in 2018 has worsened in comparison to what it was in 2015.” This year in February, Transparency International ranked India 81st on the Global Perception Index 2017, two spots lower than India’s rank in 2016.