The economy of a country can describe the structure of employment in that country. Countries with a good rate of economy have more people employed in their tertiary/quaternary sectors than the primary and secondary sectors and when it comes to countries that have poor economies, it can be said that more people in that particular country work in the primary sector than in secondary or tertiary sector. Fifty years of planned development have always aimed at the expansion of the economy through an increase in national product and employment. During 1950-2010, the GDP of India grew at a positive rate and was higher than the employment growth at that moment in time. There was always a lot of fluctuation in the growth of GDP, but employment grew at a positive rate, but not more than 2 %. However, in the late 1990s, there was a decline in employment growth, and reached the level of growth that India had in the early stages of planning. During this period, the economy witnessed the trend of ‘Jobless Growth’ as the gap between the growth of GDP and employment was enlarging. A situation when the economy can produce more goods and services without a proportionate increase in employment opportunities is known as Jobless Growth. In other words, it is a situation when there is an overall acceleration in the growth rate of GDP in the economy without corresponding expansion in employment opportunities. As we all know, India is an agrarian nation. The majority of India’s population lives in rural areas and is dependent on agriculture for livelihood. The developmental strategies in many countries, including India, have always targeted reducing the proportion of people depending on agriculture.

Nisha and Madhu gave were discussing how even after covid19 pandemic, there was an increase in the Gross Domestic Product of the country in 2022. Nisha said to Madhu, "Madhu, you know that in 1991, our economy was about to collapse if the reforms of 1991 were not introduced. In 1990s the country's development took another turn altogether as the GDP increased". Madhu was not satisfied with what Nisha said. According to you, do you think in the 1990's all the development indicators showed positive signs? 

Rise in GDP but fall in the employment rate

India, in the 1990s, showed a pattern that indicated "Jobless growth" in the economy. This means that in the Indian economy, without generating employment, we have been able to produce more goods and services. We can also say that there was rise in GDP and fall in the employment rate witnessed.