Question

Q. 2. Refer Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) - July 2017 - June 2015, published by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, National Statistical Office, Government of India in May 2019; critically evaluate the following (Maximum 500 words each) [4*3= 12 Marks] 1. Employment in Informal Sector and conditions of employment in India. 2. Status of Unemployment in India. 3. Employment status among social and religious groups.

Answer 1

1) According to the survey the employment condition in India is extremely bad. It says, 6.1% of India’s labour force, and 17.8% of young people (15-29 years) in the labour force are unemployed. The survey had also put up the problem that the unemployment was 45 years high. It is more dihertnening that the deduction of the unemployment was not due to any other good reason. It was observed that the bad condition of the employment market has led to young people opting out of the labor market. The median daily earnings were higher for men and women in regular jobs, as compared to self-employment and casual work. However, not all salaried jobs guarantee high pays as around 45% of salaried workers , the best-paid workers in India earned less than ₹10,000 per month, and only about 4% of them earned more than ₹50,000 per month in 2017-18. Overall, 72% of regular workers earned below the minimum monthly salary of ₹18,000 prescribed by the 7th Pay Commission. India still lags behind many developing countries like Brazil and South America.

2) Unemployment was on a 45 year high due to the lack of jobs not able to be created. The unemployment rate (UR) in both rural and urban India ihas been the highest. The unemployment rates among men and women in both rural and urban groups,is also estimated among the highest. The increase in the UR is more than three times among rural men and more than double among rural women according to the usual status since 2011-12. In urban areas, the UR among men is more than twice and has increased twice among women since 2011-12. It is to be noted that the UR between 1972 and 2012 was almost static or did not have many differences.  Besides, the UR rose sharply among youth of ages between 15-29 years and those who got better education.The unemployment rates in urban areas are higher than those in rural areas. In rural areas, it is estimated to be 5.3 per cent, whereas in urban areas, whereas the UR in urban was calculated is 7.8 per cent according to the usual status. The overall unemployment rate is 6.1 per cent in India according to the usual status. The rural employment rate is 8.5 per cent whereas the urban rate is 9.6 per cent. The overall unemployment rate is 8.9 per cent. Females are overall found to be more and more. When the unemployment growth is seen then among youththe bracket of 15-29 the unemployment has risen sharply since 2011-12. While males in this case have triple effect, the female count is however just the double.

3) When talking about UR among the social strata ‘General’ or ‘Others’ category — 6.7 per cent. This groups is followed by Schedule Castes (6.3 per cent), Other Backward Classes (6 per cent) and Scheduled Tribes (4.3 per cent).In religious groups, Christians have the highest UR in both urban and rural areas. In rural areas, Christians have a UR of 7.4 per cent, Muslims have a UR of 6.5 per cent, Sikhs 6.3 per cent and Hindus 5.2 per cent. In urban areas, Christians have a UR of 11 per cent, Sikhs 9.1 per cent, followed by Muslims 8.5 per cent and Hindus 7.6 per cent.