Govt to set up task force to create reliable, timely employment data

With the recent reports over the records of the job creation in India, the Government of India decided to form Task Force to analyse the employment data.

The government feels that some data is collected and published by certain agencies including the Labour Bureau, but the coverage is very small. In a statement by the Prime Minister's office on Wednesday, it is mentioned that, "The GoI attaches the highest priority to job creation. India suffers from a lack of reliable, timely data on employment which has made it difficult for policy makers and independent observers to assess the extent of employment generation at different points of time."

The PMO also mentioned that, data by Labour Bureau covers only a few sectors and the methodology, which is not based on updated panel of survey respondents.

So, in view of the importance of timely and reliable data on employment, the PMO directed the concerned ministries too to come up with a solution to fill this long standing gap in the country's statistical architecture.

The political observers feel that despite of good GDP (gross domestic product) growth, the country has been failed in job creation. While the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself talks about 'New India' and 'Make In India', the country should have more job opportunities than other countries.

According to the global records, India's rate of job creation is only two-thirds of the global average. Moreover, the employment elasticity of the Indian economy the numbers of jobs it creates with economic growth-has been declining in the last few years.

The recent joint reports by Confederation of Indian Industry and Boston Consulting Group have analysed the reasons for low job creation and suggested how more jobs can be generated.

The new Task Force will be formed under the chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog Dr. Arvind Panagriya with Labour Secretary Sathiyavathy, Secretary Statistics Dr. T.C.A. Ananth, Prof. Pulak Ghosh of NITI Aayog and Manish Sabharwal (Member RBI Board) as members. The Task Force will recommend solutions which can be implemented in a time bound manner.

Reportedly, Modi also directed that this task be expedited so that policies on employment can be formulated with a proper appreciation of impacts, based on credible data.