Lok Sabha Question No. 378 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-05
Subject: Employment Opportunities
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Mahesh Sahoo

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 378

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024

## EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

## 378.   SHRI MAHESH SAHOO :

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

- (a) whether the Government has initiated action to increase the employment opportunities and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any study to analyse the reasons behind  increase  in  the  rate  of  unemployment  in  the  country,  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (c) the reasons for low rate of productive employment; and
- (d) the details of growth of unemployment in the country during the last ten years, year-wise, State wise?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

( a)  to  (d):    The  data  on  Employment  and  Unemployment  is  collected  through Periodic  Labour  Force  Survey  (PLFS)  which  is  conducted  by  the  Ministry  of Statistics  &  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  Worker Population Ratio (WPR) Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above during the years 2017-18 to 2022-23 are as follows:

| Years   |   WPR (in %) |   UR (in %) |
|---------|--------------|-------------|
| 2017-18 |         46.8 |         6   |
| 2018-19 |         47.3 |         5.8 |
| 2019-20 |         50.9 |         4.8 |
| 2020-21 |         52.6 |         4.2 |
| 2021-22 |         52.9 |         4.1 |
| 2022-23 |         56   |         3.2 |

Source: PLFS, MoSPI

The data indicates that the worker population ratio, indicating employment, has an increasing trend over the years and the unemployment rate in the country has declining trend.

The State-wise estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons  of  age  15  years  &  above  for  the  period  2017-18  to  2022-23  are  at Annexure.

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 has announced Aatmanirbhar Bharat package to provide stimulus to business and to mitigate the adverse impact of Covid 19. Under this package, the Government has provided fiscal stimulus of more than Rupees 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.

The  Aatmanirbhar  Bharat  Rojgar  Yojana  (ABRY)  was  launched  with effect  from  1st  October,  2020  to  incentivize  employers  for  creation  of  new employment and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic. The  terminal  date  for  registration  of  beneficiaries  was  31.03.2022.  Since inception of the scheme, till 19.01.2024, benefits have been provided to 60.49 lakhs beneficiaries under the scheme.

The Government is implementing Prime Minister Street Vendor's AtmaNirbharNidhi  (PM  SVANidhi  Scheme)  since  June  01,  2020  to  facilitate collateral free working capital loan to street vendors to restart their businesses, which were adversely impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic. As on 31.01.2024, 83.67 lakh loans have been sanctioned under the scheme.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) was launched 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 26.01.2024, 46.16 crore loans were sanctioned under the scheme.

The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is being implemented by the  Government with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore, for a period of 5 years starting from 2021-22 which have potential for creating 60 lakh new jobs.

PM GatiShakti  is  a  transformative  approach  for  economic  growth  and sustainable  development.  The  approach  is  driven  by  seven  engines,  namely, Roads,  Railways,  Airports,  Ports,  Mass  Transport,  Waterways  and  Logistics Infrastructure.  This  approach  is  powered  by  Clean  Energy  and  Sabka  Prayas leading to huge job and entrepreneurial opportunities for all.

The  Government  of  India  is  encouraging  various  projects  involving substantial investment and public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and Deen Dayal Antodaya YojanaNational Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) etc. for employment generation. The  Government  is  implementing  a  programme  for  skilling  of  rural  youth  for entrepreneurship  development  through  Rural  Self  Employment  and  Training Institutes (RSETIs).

Further, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is implementing the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), Pradhan  Mantri  Kaushal  Vikas  Yojana  (PMKVY),  Jan  Shikshan  Sansthan  (JSS) Scheme  and  Craftsman  Training  Scheme  (CTS)  through  Industrial  Training Institutes (ITIs) to enhance the employability of youth.

Besides these initiatives, various flagship programmes of the Government such as Make in India, Start-up India, Stand-up India, Digital India, Housing for All etc. are also oriented towards generating employment opportunities.

All  these initiatives are expected to collectively generate employment in the medium to long term through multiplier-effects.

*****

Annexure

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  part  (a)  to  (d)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred Question No. 378 due for reply on 05.02.2024

State/UT-wise Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above during 2017-18 to 2022-23 (in %)

| S. No.    | States/UTs           | 2017- 18   | 2018- 19   | 2019- 20   | 2020- 21   | 2021- 22   | 2022- 23   |
|-----------|----------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       | 4.5        | 5.3        | 4.7        | 4.1        | 4.2        | 4.1        |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh    | 5.8        | 7.7        | 6.7        | 5.7        | 7.7        | 4.8        |
| 3         | Assam                | 7.9        | 6.7        | 7.9        | 4.1        | 3.9        | 1.7        |
| 4         | Bihar                | 7.0        | 9.8        | 5.1        | 4.6        | 5.9        | 3.9        |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh         | 3.3        | 2.4        | 3.3        | 2.5        | 2.4        | 2.4        |
| 6         | Delhi                | 9.4        | 10.4       | 8.6        | 6.3        | 5.3        | 1.9        |
| 7         | Goa                  | 13.9       | 8.7        | 8.1        | 10.5       | 12.0       | 9.7        |
| 8         | Gujarat              | 4.8        | 3.2        | 2.0        | 2.2        | 2.0        | 1.7        |
| 9         | Haryana              | 8.4        | 9.3        | 6.4        | 6.3        | 9.0        | 6.1        |
| 10        | Himachal Pradesh     | 5.5        | 5.1        | 3.7        | 3.3        | 4.0        | 4.3        |
| 11        | Jharkhand            | 7.5        | 5.2        | 4.2        | 3.1        | 2.0        | 1.7        |
| 12        | Karnataka            | 4.8        | 3.6        | 4.2        | 2.7        | 3.2        | 2.4        |
| 13        | Kerala               | 11.4       | 9.0        | 10.0       | 10.1       | 9.6        | 7.0        |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh       | 4.3        | 3.5        | 3.0        | 1.9        | 2.1        | 1.6        |
| 15        | Maharashtra          | 4.8        | 5.0        | 3.2        | 3.7        | 3.5        | 3.1        |
| 16        | Manipur              | 11.5       | 9.4        | 9.5        | 5.6        | 9.0        | 4.7        |
| 17        | Meghalaya            | 1.6        | 2.7        | 2.7        | 1.7        | 2.6        | 6.0        |
| 18        | Mizoram              | 10.1       | 7.0        | 5.7        | 3.5        | 5.4        | 2.2        |
| 19        | Nagaland             | 21.4       | 17.4       | 25.7       | 19.2       | 9.1        | 4.3        |
| 20        | Odisha               | 7.1        | 7.0        | 6.2        | 5.3        | 6.0        | 3.9        |
| 21        | Punjab               | 7.7        | 7.4        | 7.3        | 6.2        | 6.4        | 6.1        |
| 22        | Rajasthan            | 5.0        | 5.7        | 4.5        | 4.7        | 4.7        | 4.4        |
| 23        | Sikkim               | 3.5        | 3.1        | 2.2        | 1.1        | 1.6        | 2.2        |
| 24        | Tamil Nadu           | 7.5        | 6.6        | 5.3        | 5.2        | 4.8        | 4.3        |
| 25        | Telangana            | 7.6        | 8.3        | 7.0        | 4.9        | 4.2        | 4.4        |
| 26        | Tripura              | 6.8        | 10.0       | 3.2        | 3.2        | 3.0        | 1.4        |
| 27        | Uttarakhand          | 7.6        | 8.9        | 7.1        | 6.9        | 7.8        | 4.5        |
| 28        | Uttar Pradesh        | 6.2        | 5.7        | 4.4        | 4.2        | 2.9        | 2.4        |
| 29        | West Bengal          | 4.6        | 3.8        | 4.6        | 3.5        | 3.4        | 2.2        |
| 30        | Andaman & N. Island  | 15.8       | 13.5       | 12.6       | 9.1        | 7.8        | 9.7        |
| 31        | Chandigarh           | 9.0        | 7.3        | 6.3        | 7.1        | 6.3        | 4.0        |
| 32        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 0.4        | 1.5        | 3.0        | 4.2        | 5.2        | 2.5        |
|           | Jammu &              | 5.4        |            | 0.1        | 2.9        | 3.3        | 6.1        |
| 34        | Kashmir              |            | 5.1        | 6.7        | 5.9        | 5.2        | 4.4        |
| 35        | Ladakh               | -          | -          |            |            |            |            |
| 36        | Lakshadweep          | 21.3       | 31.6       | 13.7       | 13.4       | 17.2       | 11.1       |
| 37        | Puducherry           | 10.3       | 8.3        | 7.6        | 6.7        | 5.8        | 5.6        |
| All India | All India            | 6.0        | 5.8        | 4.8        | 4.2        | 4.1        | 3.2        |

Source: PLFS, MoSPI