Government Drives Employment Growth; Ministry of Labour & Employment Unveils Strategies

The data on Employment and Unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and 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 Worker Population Ratio (WPR) on usual status for age 15 years and above during 2022-23 was 56% and in rural areas, WPR was 59.4%.

The percentage distribution of workers on usual status by broad industry division during 2022-23 in the country and rural areas is at Annexure-I.

The State/UT-wise estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in the country including rural areas on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above during 2022-23 are at Annexure-II.

The KLEMS (K: Capital, L: Labour, E: Energy, M: Materials and S: Services) database published by Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) provides employment trends at all India level. As per the latest data of the database, provisional estimates for 2023-24, employment in the country increased to 64.33 crore in year 2023-24 compared to 47.5 crore in 2017-18. Total increase in employment during 2017-18 to 2023-24 is about 16.83 crore.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) Payroll Data gives an idea of the level of employment in the formal sector. More than 1.3 crore net subscribers joined EPFO during 2023-24. Moreover, during last six and half years (since September 2017 to March 2024) more than 6.2 crore net subscribers have joined EPFO, indicating increase in formalisation of employment.

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, including for rural areas.

The various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India like Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, etc. are implementing different employment generation schemes/ programmes  like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs),  Deen Dayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Production Linked Incentive,  etc. The details of various employment generation schemes/ programmes being implemented by the Government of India may be seen at https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes.

Annexure-I

Estimated distribution of workers on usual status (in %) by broad industry division during 2022-23

 

S. No. Broad industry Division as per
NIC- 2008
2022-23
Rural Rural + Urban
1 Agriculture 58.4 45.8
2 Mining & quarrying 0.3 0.3
3 Manufacturing 8.2 11.4
4 Electricity, water, etc. 0.4 0.5
5 Construction 13.9 13.0
6 Trade, hotel & restaurant 8.3 12.1
7 Transport, storage &
communications
3.5 5.4
8 Other services 7.0 11.4
  Total 100.0 100.0

 

Source: PLFS, MoSPI

 

Annexure-II

State/UT-wise details of Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in the country on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above for the year 2022-23 (in %)

 

S. No. States/UTs Rural

Persons

All India

Persons

1 Andhra Pradesh 62.8 58.6
2 Arunachal Pradesh 67.9 64.9
3 Assam 54.7 54.5
4 Bihar 47.8 47.0
5 Chhattisgarh 74.7 70.1
6 Delhi 35.7 45.8
7 Goa 42.4 45.1
8 Gujarat 68.9 61.5
9 Haryana 44.7 44.9
10 Himachal Pradesh 76.5 73.8
11 Jharkhand 65.6 60.9
12 Karnataka 59.0 55.6
13 Kerala 53.4 50.5
14 Madhya Pradesh 69.0 63.4
15 Maharashtra 63.2 57.6
16 Manipur 49.1 48.7
17 Meghalaya 69.9 65.8
18 Mizoram 58.2 55.2
19 Nagaland 74.7 69.4
20 Odisha 60.7 58.9
21 Punjab 50.8 50.2
22 Rajasthan 63.6 58.8
23 Sikkim 77.9 74.0
24 Tamil Nadu 59.6 54.7
25 Telangana 64.1 57.7
26 Tripura 55.6 54.3
27 Uttarakhand 57.1 53.5
28  Uttar Pradesh 57.0 53.9
29 West Bengal 58.6 56.1
30 Andaman & N. Island 64.0 60.0
31 Chandigarh 57.1 45.6
32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 70.1 65.0
34 Jammu & Kashmir 64.2 60.7
35 Ladakh 57.5 57.0
36 Lakshadweep 40.3 35.5
37 Puducherry 60.1 49.6
All India 59.4 56.0

Source: PLFS, MoSPI