The Centre does not seem to have data on job losses during the pandemic, as revealed by answers given by the Labour Ministry in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
However, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar did inform the Upper House that over 1 crore migrant workers went back to their respective States amid the lockdown.
A quick analysis of 33 written answers tabled by Gangwar showed at least eight questions were directly related to job losses during the pandemic. DMK MP from Tamil Nadu, Tiruchi Siva, asked three pointed questions: the month-wise unemployment rate for March, April, May, June, July and August, the estimated number of workers who lost their jobs due to Covid-19 in the unorganised sector, and the estimated percentage of the workforce in the unorganised and organised sectors that lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
Gangwar responded: “The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) on employment and unemployment is conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, on an annual basis. As per PLFS 2018-19, the estimated unemployment rate to the extent available based on such surveys for persons of all ages on a usual status (principal status + subsidiary status) basis in the country was 5.8 per cent. Further, the global spread of the coronavirus followed by the lockdowns has affected economies across the globe including India. Covid-19 has resulted in a large number of migrant workers going back to their native places.”
Monthly unemployment rate
TMC MP from West Bengal, Derek O’ Brien, wanted to know the monthly unemployment rate in the country in the last 12 months, whether the Centre has assessed the impact of the lockdown on the employment status in the country, and the number of people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic-induced restrictions in the last six months.
Here too, Gangwar, first repeated his response to Siva and then added that schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhayan will create jobs.
When Samajwadi Party MP Ravi Prakash Verma from Uttar Pradesh quoted CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) data of 18.9 million salaried jobs being lost in the country during April to July 2020, and sought State-wise details, Gangwar emphasised that the Centre uses only official data to frame policies, and that data captured by non-government agencies are not referred to. He went on to detail various schemes aimed at job creation.
UP tops returnees’ list
Based on data collected from State governments, Gangwar said that more than 1.04 crore migrants returned to their respective home States during the pandemic. Here, UP topped the list with over 32 lakh workers, followed by Bihar with over 15 lakh and Rajasthan with over 13 lakh.
In response to another question, Gangwar said his ministry envisages developing a National Database for Unorganised Workers (NDUW) seeded with Aadhaar for all unorganised workers. The project will enrol unorganised workers including migrants to help them get employment and other assistance.