India Out of Work

The race against time has begun, and India is already alarmingly behind. With only fifteen years left of its demographic dividend, India is staring at a stark future - it may age into a poorer nation. Millions remain unemployed, underemployed or trapped in precarious work. India Out of Work is an acute and grave analysis of why the nation must urgently jumpstart its economy and what it will take for it to grow self-sufficient and rich before it grows old. From rural distress to the fragile realities of the 'new economy', Santosh Mehrotra and Jajati K. Parida unpack hard truths and lay out bold steps needed for a prosperous future, arguing that India needs to grow at 9 per cent per annum and generate 350 million non-farm jobs by 2055.

This book exposes India's critical challenges: from sluggish economic expansion to widening inequality as well as the disturbingly small presence of women in India's workforce. Backed by rigorous analyses and compelling evidence, Mehrotra and Parida expose the paradox of jobless growth, debunk the myth of significant poverty alleviation and reveal the systemic barriers holding millions back from a good life.

Without urgent reform, India faces a future of deepening inequality, stagnant wages and sacrificed potential. A powerful portrait of a nation at a crossroads, India Out of Work is both a call to action and a road map for the future.