New Delhi, July 2 -- India faces a serious jobs crisis. Recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, including its 2024 report, shows that (i) unemployed persons form a large category among suicide victims; (ii) student suicides have risen; and (iii) a substantial share of suicide victims were Class 10, Class 12 and higher-education students. The most striking NCRB trend is not suicides among farmers but casual-labour workers.

India's poly-crisis: The country faces a structural economic crisis. A complacent belief appears to prevail in the government about India's GDP growth and hence employment-generating potential.

This ignores that India must grow 8% per annum consistently for over two decades to realize its demographic dividend...