Question : Rural and Urban Unemployment

(a) whether it is a fact that unemployment has increased rapidly in rural areas in comparison to urban areas of the country during each of the last three years and the current year;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the unemployment rate is higher among the graduate youths than the illiterate youths in rural as well as urban areas of the country and if so, the details thereof along with the reaction of the Government thereto;
(d) the details of the schemes/ programmes being implemented by the Government to curtail unemployment in rural and urban areas of the country along with their achievements during the said period, Scheme/ Programme-wise; and
(e) whether the Government has provided adequate funds under the said schemes/programmes during the said period and if so, the details thereof, State/ UT-wise and Scheme/Programme-wise?

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a) & (b): As per the result of last three surveys on Employment-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 is given below:
Unemployment Rate
Year Rural Urban Rural + Urban
2012-13 3.5% 5.3% 4.0%
2013-14 2.9% 4.9% 3.4%
2015-16 3.4% 4.4% 3.7%

(c): As per the result of the last available survey on Employment-Unemployment conducted by Labour Bureau in 2015-16, the unemployment rate among illiterate and graduate persons aged 18-29 years in rural and urban areas on usual principal basis in the country is given below:
Unemployment rate for persons aged 18-29 years
Education Level Rural Urban Rural + Urban
Not Literate 2.3% 1.9% 2.2%
Graduate & Above 23.8% 12.6% 18.4%

(d): The Employment generation coupled with improving employability has been the priority concern of the Government. The Government has taken various steps in this direction 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), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. DeenDayalUpadhyayaGrameenKaushalyaYojana (DDU-GKY) and DeendyalAntodayaYojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM). The detail of employment generated in these schemes is given below:
Employment Generated
Schemes/Year 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
PMEGP
(Person in lakh) 3.58 3.23 4.08
MGNREGS
(Persondays in crore) 166.19 235.14 235.77
DDU-GKY
(Person in lakh) 0.54 1.35 0.85
DAY-NULM
(Person in lakh) 0.99 0.93 2.36


Government is implementing the National Career Service (NCS) Project which comprises a digital portal that provides a nation-wide online platform for the job seekers 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 ProtsahanYojana (PMRPY) has been launched by the Government in the year 2016-17 for incentivizing industry for promoting employment generation.

(e): The State-wise detail of the fund under schemes/programmes 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) and Deendyal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) is given at Annexure –I, II, III and IV. The schemes of NCS and PMRPY are being implemented at central level and there is no State-wise allocation. A statement of fund allocation during last three years in NCS Project and PMRPY is at Annexure-V.

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