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| Red flag over job losses | |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi July 03, 2009, 0:26 IST | |
However, the survey says the Eleventh Plan period will create 58 mn new jobs
The Economic Survey 2008-09 sounds alarm bells about the ongoing effects of the global slowdown on unemployment and has pressed upon the government the urgency of a major response, especially in the unorganised sector. This should comprise pro-poor public investment, schemes to protect and promote the incomes of the poor and expansion of the scope of social security schemes.
However, the survey also says the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period (2007-12) will create 58 million new jobs. This would be greater than the projected increase in the labour force to below 5 per cent in the terminal years of the Plan.
For the Eleventh Plan period, the survey says there is likely to be no increase in employment in the agriculture sector but that surplus labour from agriculture might move to higher wages and more gainful employment in sectors like food processing, leather products, gems and jewellery, among others.
However, in the short term, the survey cites a sample study conducted by the Ministry of Labour in the last quarter of 2008 that says half a million jobs were lost during the period. The most affected sectors were gems and jewellery, transport and automobiles where employment went down by 8.58, 4.03 and 2.42 per cent, respectively. In the textile sector, .91 per cent of workers lost their jobs. The survey quotes another study by the ministry to suggest that 100,000 jobs were lost in January 2009 in the space of just one month.
It also cites a sample survey by the commerce ministry which indicates 109,513 people lost their jobs between August and October 2008, in export-related companies in several sectors, primarily textiles, leather, engineering, gems and jewellery, handicraft, food and food processing.
Two other surveys from August 2008 to February 9, 2009, and from August 2008 to February 28, 2009, indicated job losses of 117,602 and 119,159, respectively.
However, the Economic Survey notes that the Labour Bureau surveys conducted from January to March 2009 covering 3,192 units in 21 centres suggests improvement in some sectors. According to it, the sectors registering increased employment were gems and jewellery(3.08 per cent), textiles (0.96 per cent) IT-BPO (0.82 per cent), handloom-powerloom (0.56 per cent) and automobiles (0.10 per cent).
The survey says the government took a number of measures to alleviate the effects of the slowdown and consequent unemployment growth including stimulus packages.
The rate of growth in employment in the organised sector was 1.2 per cent in the public and private sector in 1983-94 but between 1994 and 2006 it was 0.12 per cent.
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