3.5 million jobs created between September and February, says NITI Aayog

'Hopefully, this would also end the debate regarding and criticisms about jobless growth in the economy,' said NITI Aayog

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

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think-tank Aayog on Thursday said 3.53 million (35.3 lakh) new were generated between September 2017 and February this year.

As per data released by retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and (PFRDA)," 3.53 million (35.3 lakh) new payrolls were generated during this six-month period, a Aayog statement said.

The EPFO data shows that from September 2017 to February 2018, 3.1 million (31.10 lakh) new payroll additions were made across all age groups.

Given that the data for recent months are provisional due to continuous updating of employee records, this could be called a conservative estimate. The actual figures may well be more than this, it added.

From the PFRDA, the New Pension Scheme (NPS) data indicates generation of 420,000 new payrolls during the given period, that too only from Tier-1 account, it added.

The NPS currently manages the corpus of around 5 million (50 lakh) employees in state and central For this study, the central and state autonomous bodies have been shown under central and state governments respectively, while non-refers to the corporate sector employees.

The Aayog said that the payroll data from these three organisations would now be released every month. Given that till now there was no such system in place, this data would provide a more firm basis for various analysis and studies of the economy and job creation.

It said: "We may as well as bid goodbye to the days of analyses based on random sample surveys. Hopefully, this would also end the debate regarding and criticisms about jobless growth in the economy. A more constructive phase of focusing on deriving the most out of this data for furthering development should now begin."

There are other organisations also, such as ICAI, Bar Council, and other professional bodies which could have such monthly data for payroll reporting for their professionals.

The EPFO, Employees' (ESIC) and the PFRDA have released payroll data. has, for the first time, introduced monthly payroll reporting for the formal sector to facilitate analysis of new and continuing employment, it added.

The payroll data, categorized age-wise, for the months September 2017 to February 2018 has been released on April 25, 2018.

The numbers from these three organisations are an eye opener and put an end to all speculations and conjectures regarding job creation in the economy. They also strengthen the efforts made by the on job creation and formalisation of the economy, it added.

First Published: Thu, April 26 2018. 23:23 IST