India enters its next employment decade with notable achievements. The government has expanded the foundations of work through infrastructure development, formalisation, financial inclusion, skilling and encouragement to entrepreneurship. The Reserve Bank of India’s KLEMS productivity database provisionally estimates that employment rose from 47.15 crore in 2014-15 to 64.33 crore in 2023-24. The question is how this base can now produce more formal jobs, higher productivity, better wages and career progression.

NITI Aayog’s report, Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047, released on August 18, places the challenge within a blueprint for demand-led, industry-linked and outcome-oriented skilling. It estimates that 9 crore young Indians were neither in education, employment nor training, excluding those seeking jobs, and that about 88 per cent were engaged in domestic duties. It is inaccurate to describe all of them as unemployed. But it’s also true that millions of young women remain outside paid work because unpaid care, safety,........

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