Surjit Bhalla Challenges India’s Unemployment Narrative

Former Economic Advisory Council member Surjit Bhalla argues that the obsession with civil service positions is driven by the absence of accountability and the impossibility of being fired, rather than a scarcity of private sector work. He points to historical data showing that unemployment for the core working-age demographic, those aged 29 to 64, has hovered between 1 and 2 percent since 1983.

Bhalla dismisses the current discourse surrounding a lack of 'good jobs' as a distraction from the reality of an economy where most citizens find work before reaching age 30. He suggests that critics prioritize political agendas over objective metrics, advocating for structural reforms that prioritize innovation and performance incentives to address systemic inefficiencies within the workforce.