Five lakh jobs were created in India in the third quarter this year after the government announced stimulus packages, an International Labour Organization (ILO) report released today said but warned against early exit from such support measure, saying it could delay recovery of the job market for years.
The report said while five lakh new jobs have been created in some high growth industries, the overall earnings of workers have, however, declined by 1.3 per cent in the second quarter.
"The jobs created are of a contractual and casual nature without security of employment and social protection," the report titled 'World of Work Report 2009: The Global Jobs Crisis and Beyond' said.
Stating that the slowdown in the economy has had an adverse impact on the quality of employment, the report stressed on the need for continued monitory and fiscal support for a sustained recovery process of the employment sector.
"Adverse impact on the quality of employment could further increase informal employment, which currently stands at 93 per cent of the workforce," the report said.
Although the report finds employment in high carbon intensive industries relatively low in India (15 per cent) compared to other countries, it said measures to increase energy efficiency would prove beneficial for supporting more productive and greener employment opportunities.
The ILO report said the length and scope of the jobs crisis could be reduced if stimulus measures and overall policies were focused on the approach of the ILO's 'Global Jobs Pact' adopted earlier this year to which India along with several other countries were signatories.
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The jobs pact presents an integrated portfolio of tried and tested policies that puts employment and social protection at the centre of crisis responses.
The report underlined that "a continuation of fiscal stimulus measures, if well focused on jobs, would raise employment by 7 per cent world wide compared to an early exit situation".
It said investments in infrastructure projects and agricultural development and continued support to small and medium enterprises lending would enable both an increase in productivity and ensure productive employment.
The report favoured increased allocation for NREGA and extending the programme to urban areas to help address under-employment.
It also said remittances to the country remained stable at around $52 billion or 4 per cent of GDP in 2008-09.