Unemployment Allowance in India: Citing a report, the Ministry of Labor has claimed that there has been a significant increase in employment in India in the last few years. The government says that employment has increased by about 36%.
Unemployment Allowance Scheme: The central government recently informed the Parliament about providing unemployment benefits to the unemployed youth of the country under various central schemes. In fact, in the Parliament Winter Session held last week, MP GC Chandrashekhar asked the government about the plan to launch a scheme offering unemployment allowance to the unemployed youth of the country to help them deal with the rising inflation. He also wanted to know whether the government has prepared any proposal in this regard.
Is there any scheme coming to provide unemployment allowance to the youth?
Responding to this question, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said that generating employment along with the welfare of the youth is the priority of the government and the government is constantly working on it. He said that this is a continuous and dynamic process. In her reply, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said that under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)’s Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY), unemployment benefit is provided to insured workers who lose their jobs, as per eligibility.
He said, “Under ABVKY (Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana), unemployment benefit has been increased from 25% to 50% of the average daily earnings, which is payable for 90 days. Along with this, relaxation has also been given in the eligibility conditions for insured workers to claim this benefit.”
Increase in the rate of job creation in the country
The Ministry of Labor has claimed, citing a report, that employment in India has seen a significant increase in the last few years. The government says that employment has increased by about 36%, with about 170 million or 17 crore jobs created between 2016-17 and 2022-23. India’s economic trajectory reflects the continuous job creation in major sectors.
Unemployment rate in the country fell to 3.2% in 2022-23
A recent report by the Observer Research Foundation titled ‘Busting the myth of jobless growth: Insights from data, theory, and logic’ tells about the employment trends in India in the last few years. According to this report of the Observer Research Foundation, the unemployment rate in the country has fallen from 6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2022-23.
The ministry said that employment data from the Reserve Bank of India’s KLEMS database, which relies on surveys such as Employment and Unemployment Survey and Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), has indicated a steady increase in employment since the 1980s.
