A unique jobs conundrum

The mega-recruitment drive poses many challenges

The Union government’s plan to hire a staggering 1 million people in its departments and ministries in 18 months, which amount to about 15 per cent of the jobs created in a year, is ambitious. But the move also reverses a key objective of India’s economic reforms, which was to shrink the government’s footprint and create a conducive environment for private initiative to create jobs. Over nearly three decades of steady liberalisation, this had indeed become the case, with the private sector overtaking the public sector in terms of employment. Since 2017, however, the dual impact of demonetisation and the