What decent work and economic growth looks like will vary depending on who the question is being posed to, but essentially what it actually means to people is economic security, humane working conditions, equal working rights, and more job opportunities. To ensure global wellbeing and growth the UNDP has set goals which aid countries to make improvements in this field.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the global development network of the United Nations. They “promote technical and investment cooperation among nations, advocate for change and connect countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help them build a better life for themselves”.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been built on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted in 2000 and enormous progress was seen. Hence, the SDGs are much more ambitious in nature, seeking to eliminate rather than reduce.
The UN Member States had set 17 SDGs , also known as Global Goals, in 2015, as a “universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030”.
The 8th SDG is decent work and economic growth which is to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”
According to the Economic and Social Council 2019, the global economy is growing at a slower rate and labour productivity has increased.
Let us discuss the challenges faced, why this is important, approach to address the challenges and the future of India as a developing nation.
The Challenge:
According to the UN, one in ten people in the world lived on less than USD 1.90 in 2015. This points to the unfortunate reality that having a job does not guarantee the ability to escape from poverty.
There are many policies which have been implemented to help eradicate poverty and provide job security to those in need. Yet annual GDP growth has declined and marginally improved from 3.8% in 2000 to 4.1% in 2019 (reference: Macrotrends)
The graph shows the general trend of India’s GDP growth and change between the years 2000 and 2018.
This slow and uneven progress points to the inefficiency of our social and economic policies aimed at eradicating poverty. There is a continued lack of decent work opportunity and insufficient investment among other factors, which has led to the erosion of the basic commitment underlying in democratic societies: which we all must share in progress.The UNDP has rightly identified a major problem and by setting a goal specifically to not just mitigate but eradicate poverty and promote sustained growth is a step in the right direction.
Why is this important?
It is no secret that developing countries have grown at a rate significantly faster than developed countries, yet sustained economic growth everywhere is critical to fulfilling the UNDP’s targets for the next 15 years. India is the sixth largest economy in the world and hence achievement of Goal 8 in India is likely to contribute significantly to progress of SDGs at the global level.
Stronger economies help afford more opportunities to build a better and sustainable world. Economic growth must be inclusive and aware of the most vulnerable sections of the society. Growth that does not improve or factor the wellbeing of all members of society is unequal, unfair and definitely not sustainable.
Approach to address this:
According to UNDP the idea behind Goal 8 : “No one left behind” is at the core of the sustainable development agenda for 2030. The aim is to sustain an economic growth of 7%.
Employment generation and economic growth are complementary. Hence, productive employment has to be generated to accelerate economic growth.
To measure India’s performance towards SDG 8, forty national indicators have been identified to capture the SDG targets and regularly measure the progress. The NITI Aayog identified four broad national indicators based on availability of data at the national level to measure the progress so far:
(i) GDP growth rate
(ii) Unemployment rate
(iii) Access to Bank (Accounts) and
(iv) ATM coverage.
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The challenge will be to create well-paying and productive jobs in non-farm sectors that can absorb more unskilled workers, including women and those in rural areas.
To tackle this India has some notable flagship programmes which aims to generate decent employment opportunities and enhance GDP of the country. Some of these programmes include:
1. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) – Aimed at enhancing the livelihood of rural poor by guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment in a financial year.
2. Pradhan Mantri Rojgar ProtsahanYojana (PMRPY) – It has been initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the year 2016-17 for incentivizing employers for employment generation.
3. Make In India - The Programme aims at making India a manufacturing hub so as to facilitate job creation and skill development across various sectors of the Indian economy.
4. National Career Service (NCS) - National Career Service Project brings employers, trainers and unemployed people on a single platform.
5. Skill India Mission - Launched in 2015, the Skill India Programme is a comprehensive programme that aims at training and developing industrial, entrepreneurial skills among Indians so as to create jobs in the country.
6. And other programmes such as Digital India Mission, MUDRA Yojana among others, allowing sustaining high economic growth in diverse sectors of the economy.
The Future:
Employment creation covers multiple sectors and is impacted by various policies. In India, employment promotion is identified as one of the important milestones of various programmes inter-connected with each other. Thus, synergy between different policies and departments is essential along with strategic budget provisions focused on the principle of “reform, perform and transform”. With the shift in the demographic and social structure, new jobs are being created in the unexplored market areas. With adaptation of current policies and introduction of new ones, sustainable economic growth is one step closer to being achieved by 2030.
To conclude, India’s policies and actions towards achieving targets set under SDG 8 follow the agenda of inclusive growth which creates an enabling environment that protects labour rights and promotes a safe, decent, productive and secure working environment for all.
Through the help of UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals various nations are able to improve and promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth which also improves the global economic growth and sustainable development. A step forward towards inclusive, sustainable economic growth, is a step forward for all.
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