Quick quarterly surveys are being conducted about employment and unemployment in select labour intensive and export-oriented sectors to assess the impact of economic slowdown, the government told the Rajya Sabha today.
These selective labour-intensive and export-oriented sectors are textiles including apparels, metals, gems and jewellery, automobiles, transport, IT/BPO, leather and handloom/powerloom, Minister of State for Labour and Employment (Independent Charge) Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said.
The surveys are being conducted by the Labour Bureau under the Labour Ministry, he added.
"Twenty eight such surveys have been conducted by Labour Bureau so far. According to the survey results, overall estimated employment in these selected sectors has experienced a net addition of 38.81 lakh jobs starting from the first survey Ocotber to December 2008 to the one of October 2015 to December 2015," Dattatreya said.
The minister also said that as per report of the Quarterly Surveys of Labour Bureau, there has been an estimated increase of 5.56 lakh persons in eight quarters starting from January 2014 to December 2015.
Earlier, CPI(M) member Tapan Kumar Sen, while ridiculing the Modi government's pet programme 'Start-up India, Stand-Up India', questioned, "Are you not proceeding towards a sit down India?"
He accused the government of "misleading" the House and contended that the minister had not relied on facts.
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While Dattatreya listed a number of measures taken by the government to tone up the employment scenario, Congress leader Ahmed Patel rejected the reply and questioned what happened to the government's promise to give 2 crore jobs annually to youths and when will it be fulfilled.
"It is ridiculous. This government can only do marketing. The reply is contradictory. Labour laws are being diluted. This government is more concerned about corporate sector," Patel said, a charge contested by Dattatreya.
"We are fully protecting the rights of workers. Nowhere the rights of workers are being taken away," the minister said.
According to the figures of estimated change in employment during these three monthly surveys, the last quarter of the last year saw a decline of 20,000 jobs.
The survey preceding, however, saw a job growth of 1.34 lakh. Again the survey preceding that between April 15 to June 15 had seen a decline of 43 thousand jobs.
Three surveys preceding that during Modi government's tenure, however, showed a growth in employment.
"Government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country like encouraging private sector of economy, fast tracking various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), MGNREGA, DDU-GKY.
"Government has also decided to strategically promote labour intensive manufacturing and expand employment opportunities by promoting tourism and agro based industries," the minister said.
