Introduction
The poor functioning of the 3Es of education, employment and employability has resulted in
growth not being translated into sustained poverty reduction in India. Added to this is the
fourth E of entrepreneurship which, had it been effective, could have delivered the desired
employment outcomes. India, like many other Asian countries, is going through five labour
market transitions: farm to nonfarm, rural to urban, unorganized to organized, subsistence
self-employment to decent wage employment and school to work. India’s population, long
considered a curse, has turned into a desirable demographic dividend. But a demographic
dividend does not mean just people; it means skilled, educated or employed people. India
became a middle-income country in 2007. In PPP terms, it became the third largest economy
globally in 2013 after the United States and China. By 2028, it will be the world’s most
populous country. The labour force in the industrialized world will decline by about 4 percent
in the next 20 years, but will increase by 32 percent in India. This challenge of jobs facing
India is daunting. With the world’s youngest population of 730 million people in the working
age group of 15-59 years, India will have one million young job-seekers join its labor force
every month for the next 20 years. Other countries, in the recent years China, have reaped
rich dividends from this demographic transition by employing its young productively. To
reap this demographic dividend which is expected to last the next 25 years, India needs to
equip its workforce with employable skills and knowledge