Lok Sabha Question No. 76 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Underemployment
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: KAMAL NATH, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 76 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 TH   JULY, 2017

## UNDEREMPLOYMENT

76.    SHRI KAMAL NATH:

SHRI JYOTIRADITYA  M.  SCINDIA:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (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?

## ANSWER

## 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 underemployment 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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