India’s economic challenge is not jobs but incomes. Despite low unemployment, most workers earn close to subsistence levels. Experts like Manish Sabharwal of TeamLease stress that wages don’t rise through outrage or policy mandates but through productivity, skills, and shifting labour from farms to non-farm sectors. With nearly 45% of India’s workforce stuck in agriculture, wage growth remains limited. Only 11% work in manufacturing, and even there, conditions are poor less than 20% have contracts or social security.
Roshan Kishore, citing PLFS data, highlights that average wages remain worryingly low, with many households spending more than they earn. This explains the political traction for cash transfers of ₹2,000–₹3,000 per month. Formal manufacturing adds far more value than informal units, yet informal factories employ twice as many workers, keeping incomes suppressed.
Amit Basole adds that surplus labour weakens bargaining power, preventing workers from sharing productivity gains. Minimum wage hikes, even when implemented, benefit only a small formal sector and often exclude younger or informal workers. In fact, raising wages artificially can reduce formalisation.
Experts conclude that India needs structural reforms moving millions from farms to productive jobs, improving skills, and enabling collective bargaining. Minimum wage hikes alone are no cure; only higher productivity and better labour mobility can lift incomes sustainably.
