Key Points – “Debunking the myth of job creation”
1. Context
- On July 1, 2025, the government launched the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme with ₹10,054 crore aimed at creating formal employment in manufacturing.
- Goal: incentivise companies to generate jobs, particularly for youth, women, and under-represented groups.
2. Problems with the Scheme
- Over-focus on manufacturing:
- Assumes manufacturing will absorb India’s labour surplus, ignoring the low share of manufacturing in GDP (~17%) and automation trends.
- Majority of jobs in manufacturing are low-skill and low-wage.
- Assumes manufacturing will absorb India’s labour surplus, ignoring the low share of manufacturing in GDP (~17%) and automation trends.
- Scale mismatch:
- Even optimistic projections (~6 lakh jobs over 5 years) are negligible compared to India’s annual need for 8–10 million jobs.
- Even optimistic projections (~6 lakh jobs over 5 years) are negligible compared to India’s annual need for 8–10 million jobs.
- Exclusionary nature:
- Formal sector jobs form less than 20% of total employment; the scheme ignores the large informal sector.
- Leaves out rural, agricultural, and gig-economy workers.
- Formal sector jobs form less than 20% of total employment; the scheme ignores the large informal sector.
3. Structural Labour Market Issues
- Jobless growth: GDP growth not translating into job creation due to capital-intensive production.
- Skill gap: Many graduates are unemployed or underemployed due to mismatch between education and industry needs.
- Wage stagnation: Manufacturing wages remain low; informal sector pays even less.
4. Risks of ELI-type Approaches
- May deepen inequalities by benefiting larger firms disproportionately.
- Could ignore service sector potential, especially IT-enabled services, healthcare, and education.
- Risks overlooking rural employment generation needs.
5. Way Forward
- Diversify Job Creation Strategy
- Boost labour-intensive sectors like textiles, food processing, tourism, and construction.
- Strengthen MSMEs as they are major job providers.
- Reform Skills Ecosystem
- Align skill training with actual market needs.
- Integrate vocational education with formal education pathways.
- Promote Rural and Informal Sector Employment
- Support through public works, rural enterprise promotion, and social security.
UPSC Mains Practice Question
GS Paper 3 – Economy
“Government job creation schemes often fail to address the structural realities of India’s labour market. Critically analyse the Employment Linked Incentive Scheme in this context and suggest an alternative multi-sector job creation strategy.”
Key Points – Justice and Equality in Organ Transplantation
1. Context
- Ethical debates on organ allocation focus on priority:
- Should patients with prior medical neglect or harmful lifestyle choices be deprioritised?
- Or should allocation be purely based on urgency and medical need?
- Should patients with prior medical neglect or harmful lifestyle choices be deprioritised?
2. Current Scenario in India
- National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) oversees allocation.
- Despite medical advances, organ shortage is severe:
- 2022 Data:
- Only 16,041 organs harvested vs. 51,000 needed.
- Women form ~30% of kidney transplant recipients but only 21% of donors.
- Women are 63% of donors but only 24-47% of recipients (2023 data)
- Only 16,041 organs harvested vs. 51,000 needed.
- Allocation currently considers urgency, medical compatibility, and likelihood of survival.
- 2022 Data:
3. Ethical Considerations
- Justice principle: Those in greatest need should have priority, regardless of how their condition arose.
- Equality concern: Deprioritising based on personal responsibility (e.g., alcohol-related liver disease) risks discrimination and moral judgement in healthcare.
- Medical objectivity: Decisions must rely on health prognosis, not lifestyle blame.
4. The Way Forward
- Transparent criteria – clearly defined medical priorities, open to public scrutiny.
- Awareness and prevention – reduce avoidable causes of organ failure.
- Increase donor rates – through public campaigns, opt-out systems, and better infrastructure.
- Ethics training for transplant boards – to ensure fairness.
- Research and Data Collection: Encourage research to continuously assess gender disparities in healthcare and inform policy decisions.
UPSC Mains Practice Question
GS Paper 4 – Ethics & Integrity
“Discuss the ethical challenges in allocating scarce medical resources such as organs for transplantation. How should principles of justice and equality guide decision-making in such cases?”
