NEW DELHI: Nearly 23 lakh persons (16 lakh men, 7 lakh women) lost jobs in the top nine sectors during the first three months of Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. Data from the Ministry of Labour and Employment provided in Parliament on Thursday showed that the number of male employees before the lockdown (March 25, 2020) in nine sectors was 2.17 crore, which came down to 2.01 crore on July 1. The number of women employees reduced by nearly 7 lakh, from 90 lakh to 83.3 lakh during the same period.
The ministry said this data pertains to nine sectors including manufacturing, construction, health, education, trade, transport and others. The manufacturing sector has the maximum number of employees. Nearly 1.25 crore persons were associated with this sector before the lockdown.
The Labour Bureau has been entrusted with the task of conducting a Quarterly Employment Survey as a part of the All India Quarterly Establishment Based Employment Survey (AQEES). The Quarterly Employment Survey conducted during the first quarter (April-May, 2021) was designed to collect information on the impact of the pandemic on the operational and employment status of the establishments in the nine sectors, said the ministry.
The government has been cornered by the Opposition on the issues of unemployment in the last few weeks. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the government on this and cited a survey in support of his argument.
The government is providing fiscal stimulus of more than Rs 27 lakh crore as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat financial package comprising various long-term schemes/programmes/policies for making the country self reliant and to create employment opportunities.
Fiscal stimulus of Rs 27 lakh crore: Govt
Given the massive losses due to the pandemic, the Centre informed the House that it is providing fiscal stimulus of more than Rs 27 lakh crore as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat financial package comprising various long-term schemes, programmes, policies for making the country self-reliant and to create employment opportunities in the country.