The metros like Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai seem to have lost the magnetic touch as centres of employment. Instead, other metros like Bangalore and Hyderabad and smaller cities like Jaipur, Surat, Bhopal and Indore have emerged as the new job destinations. According to the 61st round of National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) findings the percentage of usually employed male persons in Delhi has crashed from 79.6% in 1993-94 to 71.4% in 2004-05. The story is no different in Kolkata and Chennai, Mumbai being the only exception. On the contrary, the number of employed people in the smaller places has moved up between 1993-94 and 2004-05.
Job seekers who consider Delhi as natural destination for better prospects and flock in huge numbers might have to think twice now. While the proportion of usually employed male persons declined by 10.3% between to 714 per 1000 persons between 1993-94 and 2004-05 that of females went down by a even sharper 15.2% to 112 persons per 1000.
Other metros like Kolkata and Chennai too has nothing much to offer to job seekers who migrate to these places. In case of Kolkata the experience was mixed. While the number of males employed showed a modest decline of 6.5% from 803 per 1,000 in 1993-94 to 751 per 1,000 in 2004-05 that of females went up 3.8% to 190 per 1,000. In Chennai the male workers per 1,000 went down 3.5% to 749 while that of female workers went down 26% to 168 per 1,000.
Mumbai is the only metro that has exhibited booming trends in employment. The number of employed male persons per thousand population increased from 773 in 1993-94 to 786 in 2004-05, an increase of 1.7%, while that of females went up 20.8% from 221 to 267 per 1,000 population.
The negative trends in employment in the three metros clearly indicate that employment generation in these metros has been much lower than required and is a matter of concern.
The survey has attributed the slide in job creation in Delhi to reasons like closure of polluting industries that upset the growth tempo of the manufacturing sector. Also, the IT and telecom sectors was unable to generate sufficient jobs to sustain the loss of mass employment due to the closure.