(a) whether the Government has reportedly shifted its focus from ‘unemployment’ to ‘underemployment’;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the NITI Aayog has released a strategy paper in this regard;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the details of strategies adopted/proposed to be adopted by the Government to address both unemployment and underemployment in an effective way?
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)
(a) to (d): As per the result of surveys on employment and unemployment conducted by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, the estimated unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above on usual status basis in the country during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 was 4.0%, 3.4% and 3.7% respectively. NITI Aayog has prepared the strategy paper titled ‘Three Year Action Agenda 2017-18 to 2019-20’ and is a part of a long-term Fifteen-year Vision and Seven-year Strategy. The Action Agenda proposes a path to achieve all-round development of India and its people. The agenda states that the unemployment is the lesser of India’s problems and underemployment needs to be focused in. As per the strategy paper under-employment and therefore low-wage employment rather than unemployment is the key challenge facing India today and more well paid and formal jobs are required.
(e): Employment generation is a key priority of the Government. Government has focused on making employment opportunities accessible to unemployed persons. Government is implementing schemes like Make-in-India, Digital India, Skill India, Swachch Bharat, Start-up India, Smart City projects etc., which will be creating more employment opportunities for job seekers. Government announced a booster package of Rs. 6000 crores for the textile sector which is an employment intensive sector.
In order to improve the employability of youth, around 20 Ministries run skill development schemes across 70 sectors. According to the data compiled by National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), MSDE, numbers of persons skilled across various sectors were 1.04 crore during 2015-16.
Government has implemented the National Career Service (NCS) Project comprises a digital portal that provides a nation-wide online platform for jobseekers and employers for job matching in a dynamic, efficient and responsive manner and has a repository of career content.
A new Scheme Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) has been initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the year 2016-17 for incentivising industry for promoting employment generation with the allocation of Rs. 1000 crore. Under this scheme employers would be provided an incentive to enhance employment where the Government will pay the employer’s contribution of 8.33% EPS for new employees. In textiles (apparel and made-ups) sector, the Government will also pay the 3.67% EPF contribution of employers in addition to paying the 8.33% EPS contribution.
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