Acting chairman, member of jobs data review body resigned after release of survey delayed, alleged interference by state agencies
India’s unemployment rate hit a 45 year high during 2017-18, according to an official survey withheld by the government of India, Business Standard reported on Thursday. The news comes as a setback to the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, months before the Lok Sabha elections.
A political controversy flared up over the survey following resignations of the acting chairman and a member of the body reviewing the jobs data. The resignation came after they stated that the release, scheduled in December, was delayed and that state agencies were allegedly interfering in the process, the report said.
According to the newspaper report, the assessment, which was conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) between July 2017 and June 2018 revealed that the unemployment rate stood at 6.1 percent- considered the highest since 1972-73.
At that time, India had been recovering after a war with Pakistan and had been further burdened by global oil shocks, leading the unemployment rate to rise to 5.18 percent.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is almost neck to neck with Modi’s ruling party for the elections due in May dubbed the report as a ‘national disaster’.
Accordingly, despite India leading the fastest growing economy among major nations- 7 percent annually- uneven growth has led to jobs not being able to keep up with the pace.
The report stated that unemployment rates among the urban male age gap of 15-29 was 18.7 percent, while for females in the same gap, it was 27.2 percent.
The labour force participation rate had also seen a decline from 39.5 percent to 36.9 percent in 2017-18, the report stated. The rate measures the proportion of the population seeking for or working jobs.
