Lok Sabha Question No. 1286 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-06
Subject: Unemployment
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Sisir Kumar Adhikari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1286 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## UNEMPLOYMENT

1286.  SHRI SISIR KUMAR ADHIKARI:

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

- (a) whether  it  is a fact  that  labour  market  is  facing  a  serious  problem  of unemployment and a huge number of work forces of our country remain partially or wholly unemployed throughout the year which has led to disguised unemployment; and
- (b) if so, the action taken by the Government to stable the employment rate at least at par with pre-covid employment situation?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a) & (b): The data on employment/ unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force  Survey  (PLFS)  conducted  by  National  Statistical  Office  (NSO),  Ministry  of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. As per the results of PLFS  conducted  during  2017-18,  2018-19  and  2019-20,  the  details  of  the  estimated Labour  Force  Participation  Rate  (LFPR),  Worker  Population  Ratio  (WPR)  and  the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons of 15 years and above on usual status basis in the country is given below:

In (%)

| Year    |   LFPR |   WPR |   UR |
|---------|--------|-------|------|
| 2017-18 |  49.8  |  46.8 |  6   |
| 2018-19 |  50.02 |  47.3 |  5.8 |
| 2019-20 |  53.5  |  50.9 |  4.8 |

Recently Government has launched All-India Quarterly Establishment Based Employment Survey (AQEES) in April, 2021. As per the result of the first round of Quarterly Employment Survey for the period April to June 2021, employment increased to 3.8 crore in the nine selected sectors of the economy against a total of 2.37 crores in these sectors taken collectively, as reported in the sixth Economic Census (2013-14) reflecting a growth rate of 29 percent. The most impressive growth of 152 percent has been recorded in the IT/BPO sector, while growth rate in Health is 77 percent, in Education it is 39 percent, in Manufacturing it is 22 percent, in Transport it is 68 percent and in Construction it is 42 percent.

Employment generation is the priority of the Government. Government of India has taken  a  number  of  initiatives  for  promoting  employment  generation  in  the  country. Aatmanirbhar  Bharat  RojgarYojana  (ABRY)  was  launched  with  effect  from  1st  October, 2020 as part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat package 3.0 to incentivize employers for creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic. This scheme being implemented through Employees' Provident Fund  Organisation  (EPFO),  seeks  to  reduce  the  financial  burden  of  the  employers  and encourages them to hire more workers. The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries has been extended from 30.06.2021 to 31.03.2022.

PM-SVANidhi  Scheme  has  facilitated  collateral  free  working  capital  loan  upto Rs.10,000/- for one-year tenure to street vendors, to help them  resume their businesses.

Pradhan  Mantri  Mudra  Yojana  (PMMY)  is  being  implemented  by  the  Government, inter alia, for facilitating self-employment. Under PMMY collateral free loans upto Rs. 10 lakh are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities.

Further, to enhance the employment generation, Government is encouraging various projects involving substantial investment and through public expenditure on schemes 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),  Deen  Dayal  Antodaya  Yojana-National  Urban  Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) and Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana (PMKVY) run by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), respectively.

Besides  these  initiatives,  the  flagship  programmes  of  the  Government  such  as Make in India, Digital India, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Housing for All, Infrastructure development and Industrial  corridors and Production-Linked  Incentive  (PLI)  Scheme  are  also  oriented  to  generate  productive employment opportunities.

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