Employment in major industries increased significantly over the last three years. According to the PLFS data, the construction sector scored handsomely, where the percentage of workers increased, is 12.4% in 2021-22 as compared to 11.6% in 2019-20. It is also encouraging to note that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes being implemented by the Central Government with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore, for a period of 5 years starting from 2021-22, is said to have the potential for creating 60 lakh new jobs.
PLFS provides the data
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameswar Teli, in a written reply informed the Rajya Sabha. The data source on Employment and Unemployment is Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. The survey period is July to June of next year.
Nine sectors are covered
The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) is conducted by Labour Bureau which aims to assess the employment situation in respect of selected nine sectors of non-farm economy of India over successive quarters. Selected nine sectors are manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation & restaurants, information technology (IT) or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and financial services.
Employability is also a priority
As per the fourth round of QES during January-March, 2022, the estimated total employment in the nine selected sectors was 3.18 crore, which is 10 lakhs higher than the estimated employment of 3.08 crore from the first round of QES during April-June, 2021. Out of the total employment estimated in the selected nine sectors, manufacturing sector accounted for 38.5% and construction sector 1.9%. 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.
Infrastructure has multiplier impacts
Investments in infrastructure and productive capacity have a large multiplier impact on growth and employment. The budget of 2023-24 proposed to increase capital investment outlay steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs. 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP. This substantial increase in recent years is central to the government’s efforts to enhance growth potential and job creation.
Aatmanirbhar Bharat package
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 and policies for making the country self-reliant and to create employment opportunities.
PM Gati Shakti
PM Gati Shakti 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. All these initiatives are expected to collectively generate employment in the medium to long term through multiplier-effects.
28.64 crore unorganised workers on eShram
The minister informed that as on 10th March 2023, a total of 28.64 crore unorganised workers have been registered on eShram portal. As on 31st March 2022, a total of around 3250 representations have been lodged in the Grievance Management System claiming for accidental deaths/ disability by eShram registrants. The eShram portal is integrated with National Career Service (NCS) Portal. Till date over 13 Lakhs eShram job seekers have registered on NCS portal.
