Inclusiveness of Indian Economic Growth and Socioeconomic Inequalities in Regular Employment in India: Changes over Time and Across Regions

India achieved unprecedented economic growth since the early 1990s. Questions however are raised about India’s ability to distribute the fruits of economic growth equally among individuals belonging to different socioeconomic groups. Using data from nationally representative employment and unemployment surveys, this paper explores the inclusiveness of Indian economic growth by looking at the changes in socioeconomic inequalities in regular employment over the period 1993-94 to 2009-10. Our findings reveal that, at the all India level, socioeconomic inequalities in regular employment increased minutely by 0.2 percentage points (from 39.9% to 40.1%) during 1993-94 to 2009-10. However, the changes at the regional level are mixed. However, the changes at the regional level are mixed. Regions of North, Central and East show a decrease against an increase in Western and North Eastern regions. In Southern region the socioeconomic inequalities in regular employment have remained almost same.