Press Information Bureau

Government of India
Ministry of Finance
26-February-2016 12:32 IST

Labour Force participation Rate higher in Rural Areas

than Urban Areas, significantly lower for females than
males: Economic Survey

Women account for 57% of employment given under

MGNREGA in the Current Financial Year

 
1.75 lakh Rural Youth trained under Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana during 2015-16
 
The Economic Survey (2015-16) states that the proportion of
economically active population (15-59 years) has increased
from 57.7 per cent to 63.3 per cent during 1991 to 2013, as
per Sample Registration System (SRS) data for 2013.
  As per the Economic Survey, the employment growth in
the organized sector (Public and Private combined)
increased by 2% in 2012 over 2011, while it increased by
only 1% in 2011 over 2010. The annual growth rate of
employment for the private sector was 4.5 % in 2012 over
2011 whereas the public sector registered a marginal
growth of 0.4 % in the same year.
The Fourth Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey
conducted by the Labour Bureau during the period January

2014 to July 2014 has shown that the Labour Force

2014 to July 2014 has shown that the Labour Force
Participation Rate (LFPR) is 52.5 % for all persons.
However, the LFPR for rural areas stands at 54.7% which is
much greater than that for rural areas i.e. 47.2 %. The LFPR
for women is significantly lower than that for males in both
rural and urban areas. As per the Survey, the
Unemployment Rate is 4.7 % in rural areas and 5.5% in
urban areas. The total unemployment rate reported is 4.9%
as per the Labour Bureau Survey. These figures are much
higher than the all India unemployment rates of the
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO, 2012-11) which
reported unemployment rate of 2.3% for rural areas, 3.8%
for Urban Areas and 2.7% for India as a whole.

The Government has taken several measures including

The Government has taken several measures including
Labour reforms to improve the employment situation in
the country as well as employment conditions for women.
Some of the recent Labour reforms include the Payment of
Bonus (Amendment) Act 2015, National Career Services
Portal, Shram Suvidha Portal and Universal Account
Number Facility.
The National Policy on Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship 2015 aims to ensure ‘Skilling on a large
Scale at a Speed with high Standards and promote a culture
of innovation based entrepreneurship to ensure
sustainable livelihoods’. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana (PMKVY) proposes to cover 24 lakh Indian youth
with meaningful, industry relevant, Skill Based Training
under which 5.32 lakh persons have already been enrolled.
Of this number, 4.38 lakh have successfully completed
training throughout India.
In addition, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya
Yojana (DDU-GKY), a placement-linked skill development
scheme for rural youth who are poor, as a skilling
component of the National Rural Livelihood Mission
(NRLM) has also been launched. During 2015-16, against a
target of skilling 1.78 lakhs candidates under the DDU-GKY,
a total of 1.75 lakh have already been trained and 0.60 lakh
placed till November 2015.
With a view to increasing the scope of employability among
differently-abled persons, the Government has launched a
National Action Plan (NAP) for skill training. The plan has
target of skilling 5 lakh differently-abled persons in next
three years. Plans are also on the anvil to extend the NAP
three years. Plans are also on the anvil to extend the NAP
with an online skill-training platform with a target of 5 lakh
every year.
Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme, about 3.63 crore households have been
provided employment of 134.96 crore person days during
the Current Financial Year (as on 01.01.2016). Of this, 76.81
crore person days or 57% were availed of by women.
The Survey has expressed concern at the reported low rates
of workforce participation for females. The level of
financial inclusion of women in terms of number of women
with bank accounts still remains low in India. However, it is
noteworthy that there are women achievers in the financial
sector, with leading nationalized banks and financial
institutions headed by women, says the Economic Survey.
 The Time Use Survey (TUS) being conducted in select states
on a pilot basis has revealed the hidden contribution of
women to the economy in the form of unpaid work. PUS is
proposed to be extended to all states to design gender
sensitive policies for employment and to make women’s
work visible, says the Survey.