A remarkable feature of the current growth slowdown in India is that it has not made getting labourers any easier for employers. Reports of labour shortages keep pouring in from across the country even today.

The scarcity of unskilled labour in an economy classified as “labour surplus” is a great paradox, and especially so, when growth in aggregate demand has slowed. Indeed, the rapid rise of real wages among both farm and non-farm labour over the past few years indicates scarcity rather than surplus. Read More