Question : Unemployment

(a) whether unemployment is on the rise in the country during recent years and is reportedly at an all time high at present and if so, the details thereof along with the employment generated both in organised and unorganised sectors during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;
(b) the schemes/programmes being implemented by the Government for eradication of unemployment in the country and the achievements thereof during the said period, year and State/UT-wise including Chhattisgarh;
(c) whether any survey/study has been conducted to ascertain employment and unemployment situation in the country and if so, the details and the findings thereof, State/UT-wise including Chhattisgarh along with the follow-up action taken/being taken thereon;
(d) whether the Government has identified or proposes to identify certain core sector that can create high employment growth in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to remove unemployment/create more employment opportunities in the country?

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)

(a): As per the result of surveys on employment and unemployment conducted by Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, the estimated unemployment rate and employment for persons aged 15 years and above on usual status basis both in organised and unorganised sectors in the country during last three years is given below:
Year 2012-13 2013-14 2015-16
Unemployment Rate (in %) 4.0 3.4 3.7
Employment
(in crore persons) 43.67 48.04 46.62




The state-wise details of Unemployment Rate and Worker Population Ratio are at Annex-I and II.
(b): Government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country like encouraging private sector of economy, fast tracking various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) run by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) scheme run by Ministry of Rural Development and National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) run by Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation. The state wise details of these schemes are at Annex-III, IV,V and VI.
Government is also 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.
(c): To ascertain employment and unemployment situation in the country, National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation conducts labour force surveys on employment and unemployment in the country. The last such survey by NSSO was conducted during 2011-12 and as per the survey results the unemployment rate on usual status basis was 2.2%. In addition, Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment conducts Employment-Unemployment Surveys annually and as per the survey results of 2015-16 the unemployment rate on usual status basis for persons aged 15 years and above was 3.7%.
(d) & (e): Employment generation is a key priority of the Government. Government has focused on making employment opportunities accessible to unemployed persons. 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, number of persons skilled across various sectors were 76.12 lakh and 28.85 lakh during 2014-15 &2015-16 (till Oct, 2015) respectively.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood. Individuals with prior learning experience or skills will also be assessed and certified under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
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” has been initiated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the year 2016-17 for incentivising industry for promoting employment generation. 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 made to new employees. In textiles (apparel) 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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