Lok Sabha Question No. 336 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-05
Subject: Unemployment Rate in India
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Manickam Tagore B

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

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 336

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024

## UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN INDIA

## 336.   SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B. :

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

- (a) whether it is a fact that the Government took a note of the warning issued by  the  International  Labour  Organisation  about  the  possible  rise  in unemployment in the year 2024;
- (b) whether  it  is  also  a  fact  that  unemployment  rate  in  the  country  has widened in recent years;
- (c) whether it is also true that the real wage growth in India was not at par with other developing nations; and
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof?

## 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 Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above was  4.2%,  4.1%  and  3.2%  during  2020-21,  2021-22  and  2022-23,  respectively. The data indicates that the unemployment rate in the country has a declining trend over the years.

As per the latest available Annual PLFS Reports, the average wage/salary earnings during the preceding calendar month by the regular wage/ salaried employees in current weekly status (CWS) has increased to Rs. 20,039/during the period April-June, 2023 as compared to Rs. 16,848/- during the period April-June, 2018.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is a demand driven wage employment programme which provide 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. Section 3(1) (b) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 mandates the Central Government and the State Governments to review the minimum rates of wages so  fixed  in  the  Scheduled  employments  in  their  respective  jurisdiction  at intervals not exceeding five years and revise the minimum rates, if necessary. In order to take care of the rising prices, the Central Government revises the basic rates of minimum wages and Variable Dearness Allowance thereon taking in to account the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers. The Government periodically reviews and revises the minimum rates of wages  and  extends  its  coverage  across  employments  and  provide  for  floor wage. The provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, have been rationalized and amalgamated in the Code on Wages Act, 2019, as passed by the Parliament and  notified  on  08.08.2019.  The  Code  on  Wages,  2019,  provides  for  universal minimum wage and floor wage across employments in organized and unorganized sector and the existing provision, under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to restrict applicability of minimum wages to Scheduled employments, has been dispensed with under the Code. The Code mandates the Central Government  to  fix  floor  wage  applicable  across  the  Central  and  the  State sphere.

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