(a) whether it is a fact that labour market is facing a serious problem of unemployment and a huge number of work forces of our country remain partially or wholly unemployed throughout the year which has led to disguised unemployment; and
(b) if so, the action taken by the Government to stable the employment rate at least at par with pre-covid employment situation?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)
(a) & (b): The data on employment/ unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. As per the results of PLFS conducted during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, the details of the estimated Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons of 15 years and above on usual status basis in the country is given below:
In (%)
Year LFPR WPR UR
2017-18 49.8 46.8 6.0
2018-19 50.02 47.3 5.8
2019-20 53.5 50.9 4.8
Recently Government has launched All-India Quarterly Establishment Based Employment Survey (AQEES) in April, 2021. As per the result of the first round of Quarterly Employment Survey for the period April to June 2021, employment increased to 3.8 crore in the nine selected sectors of the economy against a total of 2.37 crores in these sectors taken collectively, as reported in the sixth Economic Census (2013-14) reflecting a growth rate of 29 percent. The most impressive growth of 152 percent has been recorded in the IT/BPO sector, while growth rate in Health is 77 percent, in Education it is 39 percent, in Manufacturing it is 22 percent, in Transport it is 68 percent and in Construction it is 42 percent.
Employment generation is the priority of the Government. Government of India has taken a number of initiatives for promoting employment generation in the country. Aatmanirbhar Bharat RojgarYojana (ABRY) was launched with effect from 1st October, 2020 as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat package 3.0 to incentivize employers for creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic. This scheme being implemented through Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), seeks to reduce the financial burden of the employers and encourages them to hire more workers. The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries has been extended from 30.06.2021 to 31.03.2022.
PM-SVANidhi Scheme has facilitated collateral free working capital loan upto Rs.10,000/- for one-year tenure to street vendors, to help them resume their businesses.
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is being implemented by the Government, inter alia, for facilitating self-employment. Under PMMY collateral free loans upto Rs. 10 lakh are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities.
Further, to enhance the employment generation, Government is encouraging various projects involving substantial investment and through public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Deen Dayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana (PMKVY) run by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), respectively.
Besides these initiatives, the flagship programmes of the Government such as Make in India, Digital India, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Housing for All, Infrastructure development and Industrial corridors and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme are also oriented to generate productive employment opportunities.
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