THE GROWTH--EMPLOYMENT INTERACTION IN INDIA SINCE THE ADVENT OF ECONOMIC REFORMS--IS THERE A 'VIRTUOUS CIRCLE'?

Measured by the number of workers and work seekers, that is, the labour force, there has been a decline in the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in the Indian economy during the last decade or more. But this story has been complicated by an increase in the LFPR between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, and then a decline during 2004-05 and 2009-10, resulting in a situation of almost jobless growth during a period of high economic growth. This result has been arrived at on the basis of Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status (UPSS). By deploying another measurement--Usual Principal Status (UPS)--and restricting to the age group of 15-59 years, a different interpretation of job-creating economic growth has been put forward by one of the scholars. Further, a net transfer of workers from the unorganised (informal) to the organised (formal) sector has been hailed as the advent of a 'virtuous circle' in the Indian economy insofar as the growth--employment interaction is concerned. This paper dissects this transfer and finds that the increase in employment in the organised sector has been mostly of an informal kind, that is, without employment or social security provided by the employer. It further goes into this phenomenon of informalisation of employment in the formal sector and examines the plight of these 'informal workers' in the formal sector. The labour control regime and its attendant oppressive working conditions are examined to determine the quality of this employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]