We take a look at what transpired on the jobs and labour fronts in
2020 and what experts have to say as we step into 2021.
With India
"likely to have entered a technical recession" for the first time in
its history due to the pandemic, and millions of informal workers remaining out
of work, states relaxed labour
laws and parliament passed three labour codes that would arguably spur job
creation and investment.
India's lockdown,
announced on March 24 and extended thrice, was among the strictest in the
world, grinding economic activity to a halt and rendering millions of migrant
and informal workers jobless overnight. In April alone, 122 million lost their
jobs, a 30% fall in employment compared to 2019-20, according to an estimate by
the Centre
for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Although
unemployment reduced from July to September, "it appears that the recovery
phase is over and a decline is setting in again", noted a CMIE report in
December.
"This crisis
is not just a 'supply' shock but also a 'demand' shock to the economy,"
said Santosh Mehrotra, economics professor and chairperson, Centre for Informal
Sector and Labour Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Even before the health
crisis hit, India's unemployment was at a 45-year high.
We take a look at
what transpired on the jobs and labour fronts in 2020 and what experts have to
say as we step into 2021.
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