Following a day after the National Sample Survey Office’s Periodic Labour Force Survey revealed unemployment rate at a 45-year high, Prime Minister of India’s Economic Advisor, Bibek Debroy stated that they will prepare a fresh report, showing that there has been a substantial increase in jobs, a report by News18 stated.
“The survey will show that there has been a substantial increase in jobs. It is important to realise that what is the role of the Modi government in jobs. It is partly union government and large part of what happens to business environment, jobs, employment is the problem of states,” he said, as per the report.
“But Union government can facilitate enabling environment for establishments to function, entrepreneurship to flourish and this is precisely what the Modi government has been doing by pushing self-employment,” he added, the report stated.
Earlier, Business Standard reported that an official of National Sample of Survey Organisation (NSSO) survey withheld by the government of India 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.
