Maharashtra: projects galore but will they make a dent in unemployment? Premium

Shivam Rangire, a BA graduate, navigates the challenges of job hunting in Maharashtra's competitive and evolving employment landscape.

Shivam Rangire, 24, is among the almost 20,000 candidates who turned up on July 16 at Air India Airport Services Ltd.’s (AIASL’s) gate at Andheri in Mumbai for a walk-in interview being held to fill 2,216 vacancies for the post of handymen.

The overcrowding could have led to a stampede. On receiving an email earlier in July, he was excited and hopeful of securing this job. He travelled from his hometown Akot, near Akola, about 600 km from Mumbai, in a bus only to be shocked on reaching the venue as he found the number of job aspirants overwhelmingly outnumbered the positions offered by AIASL. Following instructions, he returned home and again journeyed to Akola for a test to be held on July 30 by AIASL.

“We could have handled the crowd better” said Rambabu Chintalacheruvu, Chief Executive Officer , AIASL. “Normally, when interviews for handymen happen, a large turnout happens,” Mr. Chintalachheruvu added. He said the local police were informed regarding the crowd in addition to providing facilities such as tents and water for the candidates.

A handyman or loader is responsible for shifting luggage from passenger and cargo aircraft at the airport. A candidate is expected to have graduated class 10, according to a recruitment notice on AIASL’s website. A Bachelor of Arts (BA) graduate, Mr. Rangire had to wait for two years before applying for a job he was grossly overqualified for. The recruitment process involved a physical fitness test, which is measured by the number of up to 20 kg each gunny bags one can toss within 30 seconds. Those clearing seven bags in 30 seconds qualify for the next round, said another job seeker, who like Mr. Rangire is part of Maharashtra’s labour force.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of India 2023-24 data has a slightly dull picture of Maharashtra compared with the national average. While both labour force and workforce participation rates have increased by about 2 percentage points for India, the same metrics have seen a marginal dip compared with 2022-23 for the State. Labour force participation rate is the share of the workforce that is employed or currently looking for employment. The PLFS 2023-24 estimates the State’s urban unemployment to be at 5.2%, against 4.6% in the previous year. With respect to overall unemployment rate, Maharashtra clocked 3.3% in 2023-24, more or less the same as the national unemployment rate of 3.2% for the same period.

Economists believe the data does not reflect the complete picture of the employment situation in India. “Millions (of) so-called employed in PLFS are unemployed as per CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) and ILO (International Labour Organisation),” Santosh Mehrotra, Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, told The Hindu. For instance, unpaid family labour is considered as employment in PLFS but not so by the CMIE or the ILO, Mr. Mehrotra added. Moreover, national trends suggest an rise in agricultural sector employment and decrease in manufacturing employment, which will not show up as a dip in employment numbers, he said.

This becomes clearer when looking at data from India Unemployment Report 2023 from the ILO. The global labour body suggests educated unemployment in Maharashtra was 15% in 2022, an increase from 11% a decade ago. PLFS, however, shows the level of unemployment of those educated above secondary level to be at 5.9% in 2023-24 from 6.1% in the previous year. To be sure, PLFS report gives data for all working age groups, while ILO report shows data only for labour in the age group of 15-29.