Indian youth protest over rising unemployment as elections loom
Several youth, student and union groups from across India are expected to stage a major demonstration in New Delhi today, protesting high unemployment and calling for more labour rights in law, ahead of general elections in April.
The protests come after recently leaked figures showed the annual unemployment rate was 6.1% for 2017-2018—the highest in 45 years. This includes 18% male and 27% female unemployment in the 15-29 age-group in urban India. It is a blow to the economic credibility of PM Narendra Modi, who presided over high-GDP growth for most of his first term and was elected in 2014 on the promise of bringing 20 million new jobs a year.
Modi continues to remain the preferred PM in polling but he is electorally vulnerable on unemployment-related issues. Expect the opposition to hammer away on his two key policies—demonetisation (the withdrawal of high-end currency notes in a bid to crackdown on the informal cash economy and tax avoidance) and the implementation of GST. Both policies resulted in significant job losses in small businesses and other job-providers for youth and students.
Unfavourable March quarterly jobless figures may dent Modi’s high polling—which predicts his bloc wins the most seats, but unlike the landslide win of 2014, a hung parliament is expected this time around.
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