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COVID-19 a year since lockdown: India is still recovering from unemployment

CMIE was of the view that the agricultural sector has done well which engages more than 55% of the country’s population.

India is still not out of the wilderness as unemployment is concerned after a year when a lockdown was imposed on 25 March last year to stop the spread of the deadly COVID-19 as the epidemic-induced job losses are not steadily increasing.

The government had put a lockout to curb the spread of the epidemic, but it affected economic and commercial activities and resulted in job losses and subsequent migration of migrant workers that shook the entire country.

According to data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate was recorded at 6.9% in February 2021, slightly better than 7.8% in the same month last year and 8.8% in March 2020, during which the lockdown was imposed.

The data showed that the unemployment rate reached 23.5% in April and 21.7% in May. It started in June when it was recorded at 10.2% in June and further improved to 7.4% in July.

However, according to CMIE data, the unemployment rate rose again to 8.3% in August and to 6.7% in September last year.

In October, unemployment rose again to 7% and then to 6.5% in November last year, according to the data.

Data from CMIE showed that the unemployment rate increased to 9.1% in December 2020 and improved to 6.5% in January.

Experts said the CMIE data indicated an improvement in the unemployment scenario from July, but needed continuity that would only come after the boom in manufacturing and services sectors.

His view was that the agricultural sector has done well, affecting more than 55% of the country’s population, but needs to improve hiring in urban and industrial areas.

He said that the government has taken several steps to promote fresh hiring in the country, but constant policy intervention and existing schemes and grassroots initiatives are needed to continuously improve the employment scenario in the country. .

According to Labor Ministry data, around 16.5 lakh people have benefitted from the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana (ABRY), which was launched in October 9, 2021 to encourage recruitment in the country amid the COVID-19 epidemic. .

The plan was launched on October 1, 2020 to encourage the creation of new employment with the restoration of social security benefits and loss of employment during the epidemic.

The scheme being implemented through the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) reduces the financial burden of employers of various sectors / industries and encourages them to hire more workers.

Under ABRY, the Government of India is entitled to contribute both employees ‘share (12% of wages) and employers’ share (12% of wages) for a period of two years.

Under ABRY, around 16.5 lakh beneficiaries have registered themselves with the scheme with effect from October 1, 2020 and out of this, about 13.64 lakh are new joins with UAN (Universal Account Number), on or after October 1, 2020. Have been generated and about 2.86 lakhs. Re-joiners who were unplanned during the epidemic from March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020, and rejoined from October 1, 2020.

Experts said that the government intends to create 50 lakh to 60 lakh jobs through ABY in two years time, but it needs close monitoring and planned implementation to achieve the desired objective.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), the Government of India has contributed 12% employer share and 12% employee share under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) of the total salary for the wage month from March to August 2020. 24%. Employees with establishment up to 100%, such employees are employees with income less than Rs. 15,000.

2,567.66 crore was deposited in the EPF accounts of 38.82 lakh eligible employees under the PMGKY scheme.

The latest EPFO ​​payroll data released recently showed that net new enrollment with retirement fund body increased by almost 28% to 13.36 lakh in January compared to the same month in 2020.

Last year December saw a 24% increase in figures for January 2021.

EPFO has added around 62.49 lakh subscribers during the first ten months of the current financial year.

During 2019-20, the number of net new customers increased to 78.58 lakh as compared to 61.12 lakh in the last financial year.

The EPFO ​​payroll data also gives an outlook about the employment scenario in the country.

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