Lok Sabha Question No. 3568 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-20
Subject: Rate of Unemployment
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3568

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT

## 3568.  DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

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

- (a) whether the rate of unemployment in the entire country has risen to record levels during the course of the pandemic as per the data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) and if so, the details thereof for the last five years, State-wise;
- (b) whether  immediate,  as  well  as  long-term  solutions  are  being  taken regarding the creation of jobs and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  manner  in  which  the  Ministry  intends  to  execute  its  plans  despite  a decrease in allocation for the MGNREGA Scheme; and
- (d) whether it has taken or plans to take measures to cope with this increased demand  for  work  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a): 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 3.08 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%.  The  most impressive  growth  of  152  percent  has  been  recorded  in  the  IT/BPO  sector, while  growth  rates  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.

As per annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reports, the details of the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons of age 15 years and above on usual status basis in the country are given in Annexure.

(b) to (d) : Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority  of  the  Government.  Accordingly,  the  Government  of  India  has  taken various  steps  for  generating  employment  in  the  country.  The  Government  of India  is  encouraging  various  projects  involving  substantial  investment  and public  expenditure  on  schemes  like  Prime  Minister's  Employment  Generation Programme (PMEGP)of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)of the Ministry of Rural  Development,  Deen  Dayal  Antodaya  Yojana-National  Urban  Livelihoods Mission  (DAY-NULM)  of  the  Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs  and  Pradhan Mantri  Kaushal  VikasYojana  (PMKVY)  of  the  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) etc.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is a demand driven wage employment programme which provides for the enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the  country  by  providing  at  least  one  hundred  days  of  guaranteed  wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer  to  do  unskilled  manual  work.  Under  MGNREGS  wage  has  been increased to Rs. 202 a day from Rs. 182 to benefit 13.62 crore families.

The Government of India has announced Aatmanirbhar Bharat package to provide stimulus to business and to mitigate the adverse impact of Covid 19. Under this package, the Government is providing fiscal stimulus of more than Rs.  Twenty  Seven  lakh  crore.  This  package  comprises  of  various  long  term schemes/  programmes/  policies  for  making  the  country  self-reliant  and  to create employment opportunities.

Under  Pradhan  Mantri  Garib  Kalyan  Yojna  (PMGKY),  Government  of  India has contributed both 12% employer's share and 12% employee's share under Employees Provident Fund (EPF), totaling 24% of the wage for the wage month from March to August, 2020 for the establishments having 100 employees with 90%  of  such  employees  earning  less  than  Rs.  15000/-.  This  has  helped  in providing  employment  in  EPFO  registered  establishments  during  post  Covid period.

The Government launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar  Abhiyaan (GKRA) of 125 days on 20th June, 2020 to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for returnee migrant workers and similarly affected persons including youth in rural  areas,  in  116  selected  districts  across  6  States  of  Bihar,  Jharkhand, Madhya  Pradesh,  Odisha,  Rajasthan  and  Uttar  Pradesh.  The  Abhiyaan  has achieved  an  employment  generation  of  50.78  crore  persondays  with  a  total expenditure of Rs 39,293 crore.

Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) has been launched with effect from  1st  October,  2020  as  part  of  Atmanirbhar  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 the 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. Benefits  have  been  provided  to  39.59  lakh  beneficiaries  through  1.17  lakh establishments.

Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme has been launched on June 01, 2020 to provide working capital loans to Street Vendors,  vending  in  urban  areas,  to  resume  their  businesses,  which  were impacted adversely due to COVID-19. Under this scheme, amount of Rs 2641.46 crore has been disbursed to 26.46 lakh beneficiaries.

Pradhan  Mantri  Mudra  Yojana  (PMMY)  is  being  implemented  by  the Government 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  Upto November 2021, 31.28 crore loans were sanctioned under the scheme.

Besides these initiatives, various 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 towards generating productive employment opportunities.

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Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3568 due for reply on 20.12.2021

## State/UT-wise details of unemployment rate for persons of age 15 years and above according to usual status (principal status + subsidiary status) approach

| Sl. No.   | State/UTs            | Unemployment Rate (in %)   | Unemployment Rate (in %)   | Unemployment Rate (in %)   |
|-----------|----------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
|           |                      | 2017-18                    | 2018-19                    | 2019-20                    |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       | 4.5                        | 5.3                        | 4.7                        |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh    | 5.8                        | 7.7                        | 6.7                        |
| 3         | Assam                | 7.9                        | 6.7                        | 7.9                        |
| 4         | Bihar                | 7.0                        | 9.8                        | 5.1                        |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh         | 3.3                        | 2.4                        | 3.3                        |
| 6         | Delhi                | 9.4                        | 10.4                       | 8.6                        |
| 7         | Goa                  | 13.9                       | 8.7                        | 8.1                        |
| 8         | Gujarat              | 4.8                        | 3.2                        | 2.0                        |
| 9         | Haryana              | 8.4                        | 9.3                        | 6.4                        |
| 10        | Himachal Pradesh     | 5.5                        | 5.1                        | 3.7                        |
| 11        | Jharkhand            | 7.5                        | 5.2                        | 4.2                        |
| 12        | Karnataka            | 4.8                        | 3.6                        | 4.2                        |
| 13        | Kerala               | 11.4                       | 9.0                        | 10.0                       |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh       | 4.3                        | 3.5                        | 3.0                        |
| 15        | Maharashtra          | 4.8                        | 5.0                        | 3.2                        |
| 16        | Manipur              | 11.5                       | 9.4                        | 9.5                        |
| 17        | Meghalaya            | 1.6                        | 2.7                        | 2.7                        |
| 18        | Mizoram              | 10.1                       | 7.0                        | 5.7                        |
| 19        | Nagaland             | 21.4                       | 17.4                       | 25.7                       |
| 20        | Odisha               | 7.1                        | 7.0                        | 6.2                        |
| 21        | Punjab               | 7.7                        | 7.4                        | 7.3                        |
| 22        | Rajasthan            | 5.0                        | 5.7                        | 4.5                        |
| 23        | Sikkim               | 3.5                        | 3.1                        | 2.2                        |
| 24        | Tamilnadu            | 7.5                        | 6.6                        | 5.3                        |
| 25        | Telangana            | 7.6                        | 8.3                        | 7.0                        |
| 26        | Tripura              | 6.8                        | 10.0                       | 3.2                        |
| 27        | Uttarakhand          | 7.6                        | 8.9                        | 7.1                        |
| 28        | Uttar Pradesh        | 6.2                        | 5.7                        | 4.4                        |
| 29        | West Bengal          | 4.6                        | 3.8                        | 4.6                        |
| 30        | Andaman & N. Island  | 15.8                       | 13.5                       | 12.6                       |
| 31        | Chandigarh           | 9.0                        | 7.3                        | 6.3                        |
| 32        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 0.4                        | 1.5                        | 3.0                        |
| 33        | Daman & Diu          | 3.1                        | 0.0                        | 2.9                        |
| 34        | Jammu & Kashmir      | 5.4                        | 5.1                        | 6.7                        |
| 35        | Ladakh               | -                          | -                          | 0.1                        |
| 36        | Lakshadweep          | 21.3                       | 31.6                       | 13.7                       |
| 37        | Puduchery            | 10.3                       | 8.3                        | 7.6                        |
|           | All India            | 6.0                        | 5.8                        | 4.8                        |

Source: Annual report of PLFS 2017-18, 2018- 19& 2019-20, MoS&PI