'Bengal not only fares better nationally but has a much better employment parameter than other major states'

Kolkata: State Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said in the state Assembly on Monday that the unemployment scenario in Bengal is significantly better than the national average.

"The national average for unemployment is 6.1, while the average for the state is only 4.6 percent. Bengal has not only fared better nationally but it has a much better employment parameter than the major states in the country," Chatterjee said quoting from the 'Economic Survey of the Country'.

He pointed out that states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana have unemployment average of 7.6 percent which is much higher than the state.

These two states are followed by Odisha where unemployment is 7.1 percent, Uttar Pradesh

with 6.4 percent, Rajasthan with 5 percent, Maharashtra with 6.4 and Gujarat 4.8 percent higher than Bengal.

Chatterjee maintained that unemployment of both males and females separately is low in Bengal when compared to some major states. "The national average for the unemployment of male and female is 6.2 percent and 5.7 percent respectively while in our state it is only 5 and 3.2 percent respectively. This shows that unemployment average in our state is much lower than the rest of the country. In this aspect also Bengal outscores major states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Odisha," Chatterjee said.

He further added that when the Foreign Direct Investment in the country is 7.26 percent, the state has managed to bring six times more investment in the state.

"These are all indicators laid down by the Central government and that shows that the financial health in our state is much better and we are moving in the right direction," he said.

It may be mentioned that Bengal has been able to project itself as an investment-friendly destination in the recent past by taking several initiatives to woo investors.