Labour force survey likely to release by November

A clear picture about the labour market will emerge from the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) periodic labour force survey which is likely to be released in October-November, the government said on Wednesday.

The Labour Bureau will now on take employment data from the Ministry of Statistics and not conduct the survey of the labour market on its own, Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

"The Labour Bureau used to conduct the survey. There were certain shortcomings as we could not get accurate data. So, we have changed and we have decided to take data from the NSSO's periodic labour force survey (PLFS)," he said.

"Already work has started. The survey, mostly likely to be released in October-November, will give a clear picture about the labour market," he said. The PLFS was last conducted in 2011-12 by the NSSO under the Statistics Ministry to ascertain employment and unemployment situation.

Whereas the Labour Bureau had last conducted the survey in 2015-16. PLFS aims to provide quarterly details of various indicators of the labour market for urban areas and the annual estimates of different labour force indicators for both rural and urban areas at state and all-India level. Responding to another query on providing social security to unorganised workers, the minister said there are more unorganised workers when compared to organised ones in the country.

"Our government is trying to give facilities to them. We are holding regular meetings," he said, adding employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority concern of the government. Highlighting measures taken to create jobs and protect labour, the Minister said the government is incentivising employers under the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) for paying their entire contribution of 12 per cent towards EPS and EPF for all sectors to all eligible new employees with effect from April 1, 2018.

The scheme has dual benefit. On the one hand, the employer is incentivised for increasing the employment base of workers in the establishment and on the other hand a large number of workers will find employment in such establishments, he said. Also, the employees' provident fund and miscellaneous provisions act is applicable to every establishment employing 20 or more persons, he added.