Mathur Ritika Passi

conducted by both the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry and
the Associated Chambers of Commerce
and Industry in 2012 have shown. 4 While
economic recovery in 2013 and 2014
brought some relief, the nature and size
of the problem facing the Indian economy
means it cannot afford another slowdown.
For the Indian economy to absorb this one
million people per month figure, the nature
of employment needs to be altered. As of
2012, agriculture employed 47% 5 of the
workforce while adding only 14% to the
GDP. 6 The problem is further compounded
by the fact that since 1992, long-term
growth in agri-GDP has been a mere
3.4%. 7 In the short term, the contribution
of agriculture to India’s GDP needs to
increase. That is to say, agriculture needs
to be made a viable source of income
for those employed in the sector. It is
surprising then, that SDG 8 does not take
this into account, considering a number
emerging and developing economies face
a similar situation. The major bottleneck
that stifles agriculture growth in India is
the complicated and an unnecessarily long
supply chain structure, which has led to the
wastage of produce and consequently low
profits for farmers and higher prices for
consumers. In conjunction with fixing the
supply chain structure, policymaking needs
to focus on foodprocessing to add value to
what the farmer is producing.
In the medium to long run, there is a
need to shift people from agriculture to
another, more lucrative, sector, such as
manufacturing—an aspect which has
incorporated into target 8.2. As global
experience has shown, every economy that
aims to achieve consistently high growth
rates must move away from agriculture
first to manufacturing, and then onward
to services. India has missed a crucial step
by ignoring manufacturing and going
straight to services. As of 2010, the share
in total employment of services stood at
24.4%, whereas that of manufacturing was
10.5%. 8 Moreover, manufacturing value
added as a percentage of GDP actually
declined between 2011 and 2013 from
18% to 17.26%. 9
Broadly speaking, there are three ailments
that plague the manufacturing sector. First,
doing business in India is not easy. The
World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business study
ranked India 142 out of 189 countries in
2014, two places below its 2013 ranking.
For enterprises to operate, 70 clearances
are required and over 100 returns need to
be filed. 10 Second, India faces a massive
infrastructure deficit to the tune of $1
trillion, according to former Finance
Minister P. Chidambram. 11 A comparison
with China further highlights this growing
concern—India’s per capita commercial
energy consumption in 2011 was 684.10
kilowatt-hour, while that of China was over
3,200. Lastly, manufacturers, particularly
those categorised as micro, small and
medium enterprises, find available funding
to be inadequate. The funding that is
available is highly restrictive, as commercial
banks insist upon cumbersome paperwork
and unnecessary requirements. 12 Reviving
the manufacturing sector is the only way to
address the challenge of full and productive
employment.
Taking cognizance of the dwindling
fortunes of the Indian manufacturing sector,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014
announced the Make in India initiative,
which aims to propel India to a status of an
export powerhouse. The initiative targets
a range of sectors, including automobile,
chemicals, and textiles, through four policy
directives, namely new initiatives, foreign
direct investment, intellectual property
facts and national manufacturing. 13 While
promised investments from Foxconn
($5 billion) and General Motors Co. ($1
billion) are encouraging signs, the slow
growth of industrial production (2.7%
year-on-year in the seven month period
from October to May) shows there is a long
way to go before the initiative is termed a
success. 14
In the SDG agenda, as highlighted by
targets 8.3, 8.5, 8.7, 8.8 and 8.10 b, the
emphasis is on not just getting people
employed but also ensuring conducive
and healthy work conditions. In India, as
of 2013, almost 90% of the workforce
was engaged in the informal sector. 15 As
of 2011-12, almost 50% of rural men and
44% of rural women in the age bracket
of 15 to 19 were casually employed. 16
One reason for this lopsidedness is India’s
labour policy. Laws governing the labour
market are archaic, rigid and protect a mere
6-7% of the workforce. 17 This not only
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