India will have fewer jobs but more entrepreneurs in four years, finds a survey

• As many as 77% of Indians in a LocalCircles survey said that the country’s standing in the global arena will improve in four years.
• Over half also believe that growth and prosperity will benefit most people by the time India turns 80.
• However, fewer people are optimistic that things will improve on the social front.
  

As India celebrates its 76th independence day, a survey of its residents is exuding optimism about the nation’s prospects. A survey by LocalCircles, conducted across 379 districts in the country, has found out that seven in 10 Indians believe that the country’s standing in the global arena will improve in the next few years.

Moreover, a little over half of the respondents – 55% — said that there will be growth and prosperity for most people by 2027 – that’s when India will turn 80. But 41% of citizens surveyed feel that growth and prosperity will benefit ‘only few’.

An Oxfam India report said that the wealth gap widened in 2022 with just 5% of Indians owning more than 60% of the country’s wealth while the bottom 50% of India’s population possessed only 3% of wealth.

Businesses not jobs

Regarding the employment challenge that India is facing, a majority of the respondents – a majority at 44% – are of the view that India will create ‘only some new employment’ but ‘many small entrepreneurs’.

“Though entrepreneurship and self-employment is being promoted with considerable support to start-ups by various institutions, there are still many challenges both because of the domestic scenario, which is still to fully recover from the impact of the pandemic, and the global challenges as well as climate change impact,” LocalCircles said.

In yet another set of questions, a majority of respondents at 40% said that “creating enough employment and livelihood opportunities” will be the top challenge in the next four years.

Not too rosy social picture

On the social front, people do not seem to be as rosy in their outlook. Apart from bias against women, India is riddled with lower female literacy rate, and they were also worse off after the pandemic as they lost more jobs than men.

Yet most Indians as per the survey seem to believe that the situation might improve. As many as 52% said that the scenario with regards women and child safety will improve going forward, while 27% feel it will remain the same, and 17% fear that it will deteriorate.

When it comes to corruption and bribery, the optimism is even lower. Only 37% hope that the situation will improve with less corruption while 38% expect the situation to remain the same.

With regards to social stability too, the optimism is lower. Only 45% foresee the social stability improving in four years while 31% expect it to remain the same. Moreover, 24% expect it to deteriorate. “Not the best of scenarios with the parliamentary elections due in 2024,” says LocalCircles.