Commission finds reports on jobs complementary

NEW DELHI: When in doubt, take the middle path. This is precisely what Planning Commission did today to reconcile differences between the two expert group reports on employment opportunities.
The two reports, one authored by then-Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the other by current member S P Gupta, have been in the eye of a storm with both experts coming out with divergent statistics and views on how to generate 10 million jobs per year. Planning Commission would consider both reports to arrive at a final view in its Tenth Plan document.
The government has reconciled the differences by maintaining that the Montek report went into the macro-economic policy reforms while the S P Gupta committee looked at the micro aspects of increasing labour intensities.
Planning Commission deputy chairman K C Pant said while the Montek report growth suggestions can be viewed as a medium-term solution, the S P Gupta report looks at “specific short-term strategies which can deliver results over the next five years�. “These two reports are complementary and should be taken together to get a holistic picture,� he added.
He said the Montek Singh Ahluwalia taskforce had not paid adequate attention to the issue of the large backlog of underemployment as reflected in the current daily status data. The taskforce had pinpointed that unless a higher growth trajectory was achieved, the required job opportunities could not be created.
Added to this, the Montek report had suggested a slew of reforms measures like opening up of several sectors and relaxed labour laws to spearhead job opportunities. Mr Pant said, “We cannot disregard the possibility of increasing employment intensities through appropriate policy interventions at the sectoral and regional levels.� The key aspect of the S P Gupta report is that the target of 50 million job creation in the Tenth Plan would be spearheaded by farm and unorganised sectors.