Do subsidies and safety nets take focus away from generating jobs? Premium

The Hindu Parley discussion on whether poll promises are a distraction from providing solutions to what appears to be a systemic concern – jobless growth?

Despite India posting impressive economic growth numbers, employment has not seen a commensurate increase. With five States going to the polls at the end of the year, political parties have been announcing several promises, largely to address concerns of price rise of essentials. Are these promises a distraction from providing solutions to what appears to be a systemic concern – jobless growth? Praveen Chakravarthy and M. Suresh Babu discuss the question in a conversation moderated by Kunal Shankar. Edited excerpts:

Praveen Chakravarty is a political economist & Chairman of the Data Analytics department of the Congress party; M Suresh Babu is Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras