City of dreams for some, city of nightmares for many

On March 15, 2022, the Supreme Court made an announcement inviting tenders from housekeeping agencies to employ the services of ‘monkey scarers’ for the residential bungalows of Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court of India on a contractual basis. ‘Monkey Scarers’ are people who scare away monkeys by mimicking the sounds of ‘langurs’. They are usually employed in the capital’s Lutyen area. This may sound absurd, but this is indeed the case in certain green areas of Delhi that face a menace of monkeys. ‘Monkey Scarers’ is one of the many quirky ‘professions’ which arise only in a big city, owing to a large labour force looking for employment and a short supply of jobs

Urban areas are centres of job creation. People flock in large numbers from rural areas to urban areas to earn their daily bread. For people who do not have a steady income source in their homelands, cities hold the promise of a job and better pay. But an enormous labour force and lack of a commensurate market for jobs lead to unemployment. For many, unemployment in the city means losing the last resort. This crucial role of the cities was highlighted during the pandemic.
The sudden lockdown during COVID-19 caused widespread misery, especially for the migrant population, dependent on the city for their employment. Scenes of railway and bus stations overflowing with people wanting to return to their native villages in search of work and food were splashed across the news. It showed that urban India feeds a huge chunk of the population by employing them in various precarious professions. From auto rickshaw drivers and cab drivers to our domestic help who cooks and cleans for us every day, the servers at restaurants and cafes or the security guards in our buildings, the sweepers in our offices and colonies, the vegetable vendors or the delivery guy who delivers pizza at our doorsteps, migrants provide essential labour services which form the backbone of the urban economy.

Growing urban population and urban labour force

A major reason for massive urban unemployment is growing rural-urban migration. Rural-to-urban migration is increasing at an exponential rate. It is expected that half of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050. But are the cities ready to take on that number of people and sustain them? We’ve already seen the collapse of our health infrastructure once during the pandemic. This massive informal economy is riddled with problems such as low wages, the uncertainty of jobs, and exploitation.
There is a significant gap between the labour force and the generation of corresponding employment. The employment generation cannot keep up with the increase in the labour force. Further, the number of people looking for respectable jobs with better working conditions, steady employment, and higher pay has risen considerably due to improvements in literacy, education, and attainment of higher education, skills, and vocational education. The growth in the number of job seekers has outpaced the rate of job creation for this type of employment. Last but not least, preference for government jobs has significantly increased due to enhanced stability, guaranteed compensation, and other benefits and prestige that come along with it. These variables substantially affect the labour market, labour force, workforce, unemployment, and environment.

Decline in Unemployment
Rate (UR)

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India, which started in 2017–18, the rate of urban unemployment has consistently gone down since it was initiated. In 2017–18, the urban unemployment rate was 7.83 per cent; in 2018–19, it went down to 7.66 per cent. The year 2019–20 saw a further decrease, reaching 6.94 per cent. Rural areas had substantially lower unemployment rates than cities. The unemployment rate was also lower among rural women than rural men, but it is the opposite in metropolitan areas. Even though the unemployment rate has gradually decreased with the easing of pandemic restrictions, the UR for September 2022 was 7.7 per cent.
However, UR, based on the current weekly status (CWS), shows an upward trend, according to PLFS. As per CWS data, the urban UR increased from 9.67 per cent in 2017-2018 to 10.99 per cent in 2019-20. In comparison to metropolitan regions, CWS unemployment was found to be significantly lower in rural locations. Additionally, it revealed a rise in urban households and a fall in rural homes.

Existing Measures

India has had many policies focussed on the urban poor. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), launched in 1997, was an urban poverty alleviation program to provide self-employment or wage employment. This was replaced by the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) in 2013. It included the provision of shelter for the urban homeless and improving their employability through skill development. But these weren’t employment guarantee schemes.

Urban Employment Guarantee Schemes- a silver lining

States have started looking favourably at employment guarantee schemes to ensure minimum employment for the urban poor. Kerala was the first state to implement such a scheme in 2010- Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme. It aims to provide 100 days of work to an urban household annually. Some of the other states that have implemented urban employment schemes are Madhya Pradesh (Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman Yojana), Himachal Pradesh (Mukhya Mantri Shahri Ajeevika Guarantee Yojna or MMSAGY), Odisha (Unnati or Urban Wage Employment Initiative) and Jharkhand (Mukhyamantri Shramik Yojana).
The Government of Rajasthan has also joined the list recently with its ‘Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme’ on the lines of MGNREGA. According to this scheme, people aged 18 to 60 years living within the jurisdiction of urban local bodies are eligible to seek employment for 100 days a year. At least 50 people in each ward (of the ULBs) will be employed. People will be employed in one of three categories- unskilled, skilled and supervisors. The payment scale will be 259 per day for unskilled labourers, 283 per day for skilled ones and `271 per day for supervisors.
The policy holds much potential and can prove beneficial in relieving, to some extent, the worries of part of the informal sector. But still, it will require efficient implementation to attain the desired results.

Urban areas are centres of job creation. People flock in large numbers from rural areas to urban areas to earn their daily bread. For people who do not have a steady income source in their homelands, cities hold the promise of a job and better pay. But an enormous labour force and lack of a commensurate market for jobs lead to unemployment