At a time when job creation is slow and lakhs of people are frustrated by their inability to find employment in the formal sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment in a television interview recently that a person selling pakodas outside the studio of that news channel amounts to employment creation is unfortunate. Sure, the person is productive and is making some money to pay for basic needs. However, more likely than not, he is there not by choice but due to lack of choice. Chances are he would much rather be employed with the TV studio, even serving tea or running errands, that would fetch him a fixed monthly salary than spend long hours on the footpath.

While this shows enterprise, life is not easy for those who strike out on their own to run small ventures such as selling food and other small items, or offering a service. Not only is there uncertainty about income, these individuals have to deal with extortion by petty policemen and lower level functionaries of the local government. More importantly, not many people are cut out to be entrepreneurs and so job losses cannot be glossed over by pointing to entrepreneurial activity, as some central ministers have indeed done.

Most people equate employment with being in a job, and not self-employment. And, self-employment is not what millions of young people with varying levels of skills, or no skills, are seeking. They want the respectability they would command among peers and relatives by being in a job. The Government cannot create employment for the millions who join the job market every year but it can focus on execution of projects in the public sector which will provide employment to a few million. It can also create an environment where economic activity gathers momentum and leads to the creation of more jobs.

Tina Edwin Senior Deputy Editor

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