Despite imposition of fresh lockdowns due to Covid’s second wave, more subscribers joined social security schemes in the formal sector in March, suggesting formal employment is picking up pace despite hardships.
The payroll data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed nearly12.24 lakh new members joined various social security schemes in March, as against 11.77 lakh in the previous month.
The Centre has been bringing out employment related statistics in the formal sector since September 2017 using information on the number of people who have subscribed under three major schemes -- Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme and the National Pension Scheme (NPS).
The data showed more jobs were created under NPS while those under the retirement fund body EPFO were a little less than that in February.
Net new enrolments with EPFO stood at 11.21 lakh in March. It was 11.28 lakh in February 2021. But prior to that, EPFO had added 13.36 lakh net subscribers in January.
New enrolments with NPS stood at 25.45 lakh in March.
Experts said the growth in subscriber addition may partly be attributed to e-initiatives taken by the government for various job schemes amid the pandemic in addition to the policy support for formalisation of the economy.
However, the payroll reporting data by the Centre has a greater chance of overlap as the same subscriber may be counted more than once. Economists are still divided over whether the payroll data indicates real job creation. Many believe it only indicates formalisation of workforce in the economy.
Separately, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed unemployment rate rising towards record levels seen after a pan-India lockdown last year.
(Published 25 May 2021, 19:39 IST)
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