India "poised" to take advantage of demographic dividend: ILO
The ILO's latest India Employment Report 2024 is out.
Dear all,
Welcome to the GEDU Education as our Dinner Sponsor for the black-tie dinner just after the Ideas for India conference on 6 July. The dinner will be 350 guests in a glittering black-tie affair, with several celebrities, policy makers and tech innovators from India confirmed as attending. To book a table for the dinner, reply to this email.
Do you know what the ancient Indian sport of mallakhamb depicted in the image above is? If not, read on. If you do, then you should definitely read on.
The International Labour Organization says “India remains poised to take advantage of its demographic dividend, though the situation varies across the country. Education levels have improved considerably and is a key determinant of accessing better jobs. At the same time, educated youth have higher rates of unemployment, reflecting a mismatch with their aspirations and available jobs.” Output has become more capital intensive over the last decade, reducing the need for low-skilled workers in the economy. Scroll down for more on this.
After two features in the Financial Times the last two months, Bridge India is this week featured in The Economist, on how migrants help campaign for Narendra Modi at home and lobby for the country abroad. In a wide-ranging discussion, Pratik Dattani says Modi’s emphasis on India’s rising global stature resonates with many overseas Indians, but that the way criticisms from Opposition leaders are delivered, they may fall flat beyond a minority of diaspora in the UK. To read more check out his article on How progressive parties can better engage with India’s diaspora.
A brand new permanent exhibition at the Science Museum in London focuses on the past, present and future of energy systems, sponsored by Adani Green Energy. Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery is expected to attract tends of thousands of visitors just this year. One of the exhibits includes a sodium-ion battery made by Sheffield-based Faradion, which was acquired by another Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industries. We worked with Faradion to launch this research paper on sodium-ion across India in 2019.
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The world famous multi-instrumentalist and celebrated composer Baluji Srivastavi OBE will be hosting a sitar recital on 9 April at the Nehru Centre. Scroll down for more information under the Events section.
The Bangladesh History Olympiad National Committee held an event commemorating Genocide Remembrance Day in Bangladesh, organised by Priyajit Debsarkar, and including Syed Muntasir Mamun, Director General, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh. The day marks one of the darkest days in the history of Bangladesh. Read more here.
Nithyambika Gurukumar and Girish Menon met with HE Nimisha Madhvani, High Commissioner of Uganda to the UK last week to talk about how STIR Education can continue to work with the Ugandan government to improve learning outcomes for children, across several hundred schools in the country.
The 14th annual UK-Uganda Trade & Investment Summit dates have been announced, taking place on 6-7 September at the Hilton on Park Lane in London. It is anticipated to have a signficant focus on how the Indian diaspora can contribute to the region’s economy. In earlier years, Bridge India has hosted several Ministers including the Vice President and Finance Minister of Uganda for private events. If you’d like to find out more or be involved, reply to this email.
Upcoming events
Mallakhamb documentary screening: The Wresterler’s Crane (6:30pm, Tues 9 April, Nehru Centre)
Philippa Frisby’s new documentaryThe Wrestler’s Cane explores the ancient art form of pole yoga, also known as mallakhamb. Watch part of the documentary, meet the team behidn the documentary, discuss the connections between the ‘Pole Yoga’ and ‘Hatha Yoga’ with the sport’s pioneering champion and guru, Uday Deshpande and Baluji Shrivastav OBE.
Before the discussion takes place, we are thrilled to be hosting a sitar recital by the world famous multi-instrumentalist and celebrated composer, Baluji Shrivastav OBE, who is in the film and learnt mallakhamb with Uday Deshpande.
When: 6:30pm, Tues 9 April
Where: Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley Street, London, W1K 1HF
Tickets: No booking required, just turn up
Watch the film: If you’d like to watch a screening of the whole film (85min), there will be a screening and discussion from 6:30pm on Wed 10 April at Colet House, 151 Talgarth Rd, London W14 9DA hosted by the Study Society.
Santoor Music & Art Boheme (6pm, Sat 18 May | Harrow | Book tickets here)
This year we have a collaboration between Sajda Festival of South Asian Performing Arts and Ketna Patel Art Studio. Immerse yourself in an evening of artistic enchantment and cultural symphony. India-based upcoming instrumentalist maestro Ninad Daithankar will present a Santoor recital , with internationally acclaimed Saleel Tambe on percussion, all set in an art studio.
When: 6pm, Sat 18 May
Where: Ketna Patel Art Studio, 10 September Way, London HA7 2SG
Who and what: 70 guests in an art studio, with a musical performance, dinner and drinks
Tickets: £40, further info here
Ideas for India conference, part of India Week 2024 (29 June - 6 July | Across England) | Book here)
India Week 2024® is the place to engage in high level discussions on the New India. During the London events, we’ll have space for over 50 exhibition stands and are expecting nearly 100 business and policy delegates from India.
The Ideas for India® conference in London will consist of:
Fri 5 July: Ideas for India® conference, Drinks Reception with LCCI and University of Westminster
Sat 6 July: Ideas for India® conference, Black-tie Celebration Dinner (London) with GEDU Global Education
To find out more and to get involved, please reply to this email.
India poised to take advantage of demographic dividend
Beyond a narrow view of the unemployed, the ILO India Employment Report 2024 says there is a large proportion of young people, especially young women, not in education, employment or training. It says technological change and digitalisation are rapidly affecting the demand for skills - in other words, tech may be innovative, but it is also disruptive for unskilled and low-skilled jobs.
Across the world, the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in 2022 was 59.8%, but in India, it was 55.2% in 2022 - 0.7 percentage points less than in 2012 and on a steady downward trend since 2000. The youth LFPR was 54% percent in 2000, falling to 42% by 2021.
While India’s economic growth has been robust, it has not percolated down to an growth in jobs. The report says this is mainly because India’s growth has been services-led rather than manufacturing-led - the latter brings with it greater employment opportunities. Output has become more capital intensive over the last decade and the “skill intensity” of employment in industry and services has increased, both of which are bad news for low-skilled workers.
A large proportion of the workforce is poorly educated and therefore ill-prepared for new jobs that require new skills. Less than 5% of young people possess formal vocational training.
ILO: “There was a persistently high and increasing unemployment rate observed among highly educated young individuals.”
It’s not all good news for skilled workers. Returns on education among wage and salary-employed young people are highest among urban young people, men and those not from a Scheduled Tribe. So, getting an education is less valuable today in the Indian economy - at any level - than it was in 2000. The report particularly mentions the bad quality of higher education in eastern and central parts of India, although it says generally that there are “huge learning deficits” at all stages of education.
The report says India is in the “demographic dividend zone” for another decade, but that risks abound - by 2036, the proportion of young people in the economy is expected to decline, so India needs to find employment for its particularly underemployed urban young people by then.
ILO: “The challenge is much bigger for women and for socio-economically deprived groups among the young and for youths from comparatively low-income regions.”
The report also said there was an increase in self-employment among adults, primarily attributed to unpaid family labour and employers in rural areas, and a decline in regular salaried and casual employment. The average monthly real wages and earnings among adults and youths continued to either stagnate or decline.
The report highlights five policy areas for further action: promoting job creation; improving employment quality; addressing labour market inequalities; strengthening skills and active labour market policies; and bridging the knowledge deficits on labour market patterns and youth employment. Part of this is facilitating an environment in which gender and social inclusion are mainstreamed, which will make a much wider category of jobs acceptable to young people.
The report uses statistics published by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India through the surveys conducted from 2000 to 2022. For the years 2000 and 2012, the report uses the National Sample Survey rounds on employment and for 2019 and 2022 it uses the Periodic Labour Force Participation Surveys.
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The Bridge India Team
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