Unemployment Rate Decreasing, Says Govt

The ministry of statistics and programme implementation has conducted a job data survey of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which revealed that the unemployment rate is declining in urban and rural areas.

Rameshwar Teli, the Minister of State for Labour, presented statistics on Thursday, that the unemployment rate has dropped to 3.3 per cent in 2021-22, from five per cent in 2018-19. Earlier in 2019–20, it was at 3.9 per cent.

As per the data, the unemployment rate was at 7.6 per cent in 2018-19, which went down to 6.9 per cent in the next year. In 2020-21, it plummeted to 6.7 per cent.

Talking about the national level, the unemployment rate was 5.8 per cent in 2018-19, in 2019-2020 it stood at 4.8 per cent, and in 2020-21 it was 4.2 per cent.

The minister quoted that the PLFS data reveals a drop in the unemployment rate in urban and rural areas and even at the national level. The government is focusing on improving employment and generating more opportunities.

To answer the question asked by Congress leader Amee Yajnik, the unemployment rate in the country has surged to 7.8 per cent in June, as per the CMIE report, and the agricultural sector has witnessed a high rate of unemployment by losing 13 million jobs.

He replied that different private companies and research organisations have their own methodology for conducting the surveys. CMIE is one of them. The official source of data is the PLFS.

He stated that the agricultural sector employed 42.5 per cent of the workers in 2018-19, 45.6 per cent in 2019-2020 and 46.5 per cent of all workers in 2020-21, which shows growth in employment rate.

The government is working in the direction of generating employment and it has also initiated the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package in order to assist businesses and mitigate the negative impacts of Covid-19, he added.

More than Rs 27 lakh crore of fiscal stimulus is being provided by the government as part of this package.

The Minister said that from 1 October, 2020, the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) was launched to encourage employers to create new jobs and restore those lost during Covid-19, and the registration for beneficiaries ended on 31 March 2022. 59.54 lakh beneficiaries have received benefits as of 13 July. 

According to Teli, the government is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to facilitate self-employment. Micro and small business enterprises (MSMEs) and individuals can apply for collateral-free loans up to Rs 10 lakh as part of PMMY. The scheme sanctioned 35.94 crore of loans as of  8 July. 

The 2021-22 Budget also announced the launch of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for a period of five years starting in 2021-22. There is a potential for 60 lakh new jobs to be created by PLI schemes implemented by the government.

Through multiplier effects, all these initiatives are expected to generate employment in the medium to long term.

The minister said that the flagship initiatives of the government like Make in India, Start-up India, Digital India , Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Housing are all directed towards generating employment opportunities.