Lok Sabha Question No. 112 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-22
Subject: Unemployment Rate in India
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Dr. Rani Srikumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.112

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND  JULY, 2024

## UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN INDIA

## 112.     DR. RANI SRIKUMAR :

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

- whether  the  Government  has  taken  cognizance  of  the  recent Report  of  International  Labour  Organisation  (ILO)  which  states that the unemployment rate of Indian youth is higher than that of adults and has been rising over the past several decades, from 5.6 percent in 2000 to 6.2 percent in 2012, then increasing threefold to nearly 18 percent in 2018, and reaching around 15.1 percent in
- (a) 2020;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the details of the initiatives proposed  to be taken by the Government  to  create  jobs  through  enhanced  university-industry linkages and Research & Development (R&D) across sectors such as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), large companies, startups, NGOs, and Government sector?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

- (a)  to  (c):  The  India  Employment  Report  2024,  prepared  by  Institute  for Human Development (IHD)  in  partnership  with  the  International  Labour Organization  (ILO),    is  based  on  two  data  sets,  the  EmploymentUnemployment  Survey  (EUS)  for  2000  &  2012  and  the  Periodic  Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2018 to 2022.

As per NITI Aayog report on 'Workforce changes and employment' the PLFS surveys are based on a different sampling framework and uses a different analytical approach vis à vis the NSSO surveys on employment (Kannan  and  Khan  2022).  Because  of  this,  the  time  series  data  on Employment and Unemployment, available from the NSSO surveys, is not comparable with the PLFS data.

The  data  on  Employment  and  Unemployment  is  collected  through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. The survey period is July to June every year.

As  per  the  latest  available  Annual  PLFS  Reports,  the  estimated, Unemployment Rate (UR), including public and private sector,  on usual status for youth of age 15-29 years during the years 2017-18 to 2022-23 are as follows:

|         | (in %)   |
|---------|----------|
| Year    | UR       |
| 2017-18 | 17.8     |
| 2018-19 | 17.3     |
| 2019-20 | 15.0     |
| 2020-21 | 12.9     |
| 2021-22 | 12.4     |
| 2022-23 | 10.0     |

Source: PLFS

The data indicates that the unemployment rate in the country has a declining trend.

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  various  Ministries/  Departments  of  Government  of  India  like Ministry of Micro, Small &  Medium  Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development,  Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs,  Ministry  of  Finance, Ministry of Textile, etc. are implementing different employment generation  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),  Rural  Self  Employment  and Training  Institutes  (RSETIs),    Deen  Dayal  Antodaya  Yojana-National Urban  Livelihoods  Mission  (DAY-NULM),  Pradhan  Mantri  Mudra  Yojana (PMMY),    etc.  The  details  of  various  employment  generation  schemes/ programmes being implemented by the Government of India may be seen at https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes\_programmes.

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