Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya assured Parliament on Monday that artificial intelligence (AI) will not lead to job losses in India. Instead, he emphasized that this new technology would create new employment opportunities.
Responding to a query from Kalyan Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya drew parallels to past technological advancements. He remarked, “When the internet emerged, there were similar concerns about job losses. The same fears arose when computers were introduced. However, we now see that such advancements have led to more job opportunities. AI applications will similarly provide new opportunities for jobs.”
In response to Banerjee’s concerns about the lack of jobs in West Bengal, Mandaviya criticised ongoing protests in the state. He implied that these protests might be detrimental to job creation. He pointed out that, given its population, West Bengal should be attracting more investment and industries.
Mandaviya also highlighted the efforts of the Modi government in reducing unemployment. He mentioned that the labour force participation rate had risen to 44 per cent from 38 per cent in 2017-18, attributing this improvement to the government’s initiatives.
According to the RBI’s KLEMS database, India added 4.7 crore new jobs in the 2023-24 fiscal year, marking the highest annual job creation in over 40 years. However, this data is provisional and does not include a detailed sector-wise breakdown, leading to questions about its accuracy.
While Mandaviya is optimistic about AI creating job opportunities, the provisional nature of the KLEMS database data makes it difficult to attribute this record job creation directly to AI. The lack of a detailed sector-wise breakdown means we can’t definitively say whether AI is a significant contributor to these new jobs or if other factors are at play. Until more granular data is available, the exact impact of AI on job creation remains uncertain.
