Leverage care economy to boost job creation for new India

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Our economy has been butchered by the coronavirus pandemic, but India can turn this crisis into an opportunity by focusing on generating jobs in the care economy. It will strengthen our health resolve and also over a period of time create an exportable surplus.

A WEF report has outlined the enormous untapped opportunity and the right policy intent can help in creating an enabling ecosystem that can take the economy out of the woods. The devastating second wave of the pandemic has stymied the recovery progress that was underway and has come as a big jolt.

The report noted that almost 40% of projected job opportunities in emerging professions are being created in the care economy. However, it also highlighted that more work still needs to be done to ensure these jobs are fairly compensated and viewed as high-skilled.

With some traditional jobs and sectors struggling to withstand the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, India has a great opportunity to take the lead in this segment. We should be able to utilize the demographic dividend and leap ahead of other countries. These are times when the government needs to think ‘out of the box to ensure economic growth and job creation don’t suffer.

We should take note of global best practices and the NITI Aayog can formulate a policy that can help us create opportunities for our youngsters to build successful careers in this field.

We cannot let the pandemic get the better of us.

Compassion is in our DNA. Let us build the capability and generate jobs for a new India.