Santosh Mehrotra is an economist, chairperson of the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, JNU and editor of Reviving Jobs: An Age...
Santosh Mehrotra is an economist, chairperson of the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, JNU and editor of Reviving Jobs: An Agenda for Growth. The book, featuring contributions from reputed scholars, lays bare the steep challenge that India faces in providing employment for the millions entering the workforce every year – and the many, many policy mistakes that were made to bring the country to this perilous situation.
Scroll.in spoke to Mehrotra about the effects of the post-lockdown migrant crisis, what’s wrong with Make in India and the four economic self-inflicted wounds by the current government.
Get a Q&A with an expert, scholar or author plus analysis and links on Indian politics and policy in your inbox every week by signing up to Scroll.in’s The Political Fix.
You said in May the migrant crisis set India 15 years back – now that we are into July, do you still believe that is true? And what does that actually mean?
Yes, it is still true. Let me clarify what I meant by set back by 15 years. Until 2004-5, exactly 15 years ago, the absolute number of workers in agriculture in India was increasing. For over half a century after India became independent, we had a situation where the share of...
