Scholars point out that the GDP growth rate rose in the reform period, but reform-led growth did not generate sufficient employment opportunities. Which term is used for such growth, and how do the growth rates of GDP and employment compare in it?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Jobless growth; GDP grows faster than employment
When output rises but jobs do not rise with it, scholars call it jobless growth. GDP grows faster than employment, so the gap between the two widens.
Casualisation is a different idea. It means workers moving from self-employment and regular salaried jobs to casual wage work. It is about the type of jobs, not the gap between GDP and employment.
This question uses Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation: An Appraisal and Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues together.
NCERT (2026-27): “Growth and Employment: Though the GDP growth rate has increased in the reform period, scholars point out that the reform-led growth has not generated sufficient employment opportunities in the country. …” Employment: Growth, Informalisation and Other Issues, 6.6 Growth and Changing Structure of Employment: “… During the period 1951-2023, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India grew positively and was higher than the employment growth. However, there was always fluctuation in the growth of GDP. During this period, employment grew at the rate of not more than 2 per cent most of the times. Only during two points of time (2022-2023 and 1999-2005), over the period of seven decades employment growth went beyond 2 per cent. Chart 6.3 also points at another disheartening development in the late 1990s: employment growth started declining and reached the level of growth that India had in the early stages of planning. During these years, we also find a widening gap between the growth of GDP and employment. This means that in the Indian economy, without generating employment, we have been able to produce more goods and services. Scholars refer to this phenomenon as jobless growth. …” |