NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Gangwar on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that the unemployment rate in the country stood at 6.1 per cent and that the Centre was conducting a new Periodic Labour Force Survey.
According to the minister, the new survey has additional parameters and a bigger sample size and its results should not be compared with any previous surveys.
“As per the new Periodic Labour Force Survey being conducted by the government, the labour force participation is 36.9 per cent and the rate of unemployment for 2017-18 is 6.1 per cent,” he said.
Gangwar said the government has stopped the previous survey as the sample size was low and an attempt is being made to improve the data by adding various parameters and provide more authentic data.
Gangwar said that the new survey, being conducted by the ministry of statistics, will aim to provide authentic data.
“We are focusing on infrastructure development and ease of doing business and India’s position in the world has improved. India has improved its position to 63rd rank now in 2019 against 196 in previous years,” the minister said.
The minister said that the Centre was conscious about creating job opportunities and is running schemes and projects in this regard.
“The way our government is functioning, employment opportunities are being created and the youth is getting jobs,” Gangwar said.
The minister said it will take time to collect data as households have to be visited on the ground for authentic data collection in rural areas also.