India's unemployment rate was 4.8% in FY20, says minister

The Centre on July 26 told Parliament that India's unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in 2019-20, 5.8 percent in 2018-19 and 6 percent in 2017-18.

Minister of state for labour and employment Rameswar Teli made the statement in a written response to a question in Lok Sabha on whether the unemployment rate in the country has increased in the past six months.

The annual Periodic Labour Force Survey PLFS data is available upto 2019-20, the minister said.

"Government of India has taken a number of initiatives for promoting

employment generation in the country," Teli said. He cited the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) as examples of such initiatives.

He said the government is also encouraging various projects involving substantial investment and through public expenditure on schemes such as  Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

(MGNREGS).

"Besides these initiatives, flagship programmes of the Government such as

Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Housing for All, Infrastructure development and Industrial corridors have the potential to generate productive employment opportunities," said Teli.

According to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India's overall unemployment rate stood at 9.17 percent in June 2021, lower than 11.90 percent in May.