Employment Generation Strategy In The Eighth Five Year Plan: Report on Rupees Thousand Crore Employment Programme

Abstract

From Preface: In July 1991, the Government of Kerala announced their intention to formulate and implement an employment generation programme with an outlay of Rs. one thousand crores in five years. In end August 1991, the Government asked the State Planning Board to prepare and submit a Report on such an employment generation programme. The announcement by the State Government coincided with the decision of the Government of India to launch the Eighth Five Year Plan from April 1992. The State Planning Board was, thus, able to take up the preparation of the employment generation programme as part of the Eighth Plan Proposals. This was the proper and appropriate thing to do, as an economic development plan, should have employment generation as one of its principal objectives and should, therefore have projects and schemes for the same. Also, past experience showed that ‘special’ and ‘crash’ employment programmes, not linked to the development plan, failed to achieve their objectives and turned out to be mere expenditure programmes. The object is to create sustained employment and that is possible only through a development plan, with ‘employment’ as an integral part of it.