Batting for removal of rigidities in the labour laws, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya has recently said that he does not find passion for hiring workers and creating employment, among the industry.

"Where is the passion for hiring workers in the industry here?", Dr Panagariya said while interacting with the ASSOCHAM members after delivering the prestigious JRD Tata Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.

He said that industry should lobby with the government to have a plan for employment generation.

The renowned economist said that even in states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu where manufacturing has grown well, the labour intensive industries have not seen the desired level of expansion.

"Gujarat certainly has good roads, good connectivity, even some private ports, certainly Gujarat is much more industrialised and has the highest manufacturing share in the state GDP. But in terms of the growth of labour intensive industry, labour intensive industries seem to do rather poorly in India," said Dr Panagariya.

He gave examples of labour intensive industries like readymade garments where India has been left behind by smaller countries. "If you look only at India's clothing exports, we are about 1/10th of China even today. China is now becoming high-wage economy, in absolute terms we are less than Bangladesh and even little bit behind Vietnam."

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