Creating jobs through garment exports

Rapid creation of productive and better paying jobs reduces poverty. It also mitigates inequality. Seeing the economy through the prism of job creation would bring into focus labour intensive sectors and generate discussion around policy instruments which could be used to get these sectors to grow more rapidly. The garment industry is a classic labour intensive sector. Garment exports, given India's low wages, should be covering the whole range of products for the global market rather than being restricted primarily to cotton apparel as is the case now.