Unemployment rate now 1 per cent, says Dattatreya

Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today said the unemployment rate in the country has come down to one per cent and four crore unemployed people were registered with employment exchanges across the country.
"The unemployment rate in the country right now is 1 per cent. Around 4 crore people are registered with employment exchanges. The Centre is planning to provide jobs to one crore people in the next two years to mitigate the unemployment scenario," Dattatreya told mediapersons here.
Dattatreya said the total workforce in the country as per 2013-14 data was around 47 crore with 39 crore being in the unorganised sector.

He said the Narendra Modi-led government is planning to open 100 National Career Counselling Centres at employment exchanges across the country so that they do not function as enrolment institutions only.
Bihar will get two of these counselling centres in the initial stage.
"We are also going to launch an employment portal on which employers will list their vacancies. The National Career Counselling Centres will accordingly provide counsel to the persons enrolled with employment exchanges with regard to the vacancies," Dattatreya said.
The Minister said the central government is also planning to increase the skilled technical force of the country from present 2.8 lakh to 20 lakh to "compete with Japan in this regard".

Dattatreya was on a day-long visit to Patna to inspect Rs 800 crore Employee's State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College and Hospital, being built at Bihta, around 40 km from the state capital.