Unemployment In India The unemployment rate in India, amidst lockdown and restrictions on mobility, is 12.81% as of June 8th 2021 based on the data provided by the CMIE. Earlier, the unemployment rate in India shot up from 6.5 per cent in March 2021 to 8 per cent in April 2021, to 14.7% by May end, while the employment rate fell from 37.6 per cent in March to 36.8 per cent in April, says the report of CMIE - Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy. In 2020, the unemployment rate in India fell to 7% in September 2020 from the record high of 29% since the country went into lockdown from March 2020, However, it later increased to 9.1% in December 2020. The unemployment rate again declined to 6.5 per cent in January 2021 from 9.1 per cent in December 2020, while the employment rate surged to 37.9 per cent as compared to 36.9 per cent.The unemployment rate again declined to 6.5 per cent in January 2021 from 9.1 per cent in December 2020, while the employment rate surged to 37.9 per cent as compared to 36.9 per cent. The lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak has forced many industries to shut down thus increasing unemployment across the country.What is Unemployment? Unemployment is a situation when a person actively searches for a job and is unable to find work. Unemployment indicates the health of the economy. The unemployment rate is the most frequent measure of unemployment. The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed divided by the working population or people working under labour force.Causes of Unemployment The major causes of unemployment in India are as mentioned below: ¢ Large population. ¢ Lack of vocational skills or low educational levels of the working population. ¢ Labour-intensive sectors suffering from the slowdown in private investment particularly after demonetisation * The low productivity in the agriculture sector plus the lack of alternative opportunities for agricultural workers that makes transition among the three sectors difficult. ¢ Legal complexities, Inadequate state support, low infrastructural, financial and market linkages to small f businesses making such enterprises unviable with cost and compliance overruns.¢ Inadequate growth of infrastructure and low investments in the manufacturing sector, hence restricting the employment potential of the secondary sector. The huge workforce of the country is associated with the informal sector because of a lack of required education or skills, and this data is not captured in employment statistics. The main cause of structural unemployment is the education provided in schools and colleges are not as per the current requirements of the industries. Regressive social norms that deter women from taking/continuing employment. [-Impact Of Unemployment The unemployment in any nation have the following effects on the economy: The problem of unemployment gives rise to the problem of poverty. The government suffers extra borrowing burden because unemployment causes a decrease in the production and less consumption of goods and services by the people. Unemployed persons can easily be enticed by antisocial elements. This makes them lose faith in the democratic values of the country. People unemployed for a long time may indulge in illegal and wrong activities for earning money which increases crime in the country. [-e¢ Unemployment affects the economy of the country as the workforce that could have been gainfully employed to generate resources actually gets dependent on the remaining working population, thus escalating socio- economic costs for the state. For instance, a 1% increase in unemployment reduces the GDP by 2 h. It is often seen that unemployed people end up getting addicted to drugs and alcohol or attempts suicide, leading to losses to the human resources of the country.Government Initiative To Control Unemployment Several policies have been initiated by the government to reduce the unemployment problem in the economy. The policies to reduce unemployment are highlighted below: * In 1979 the government launched TRYSEM - Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment The objective of this scheme was to help unemployed youth of rural areas aged between 18 and 35 years to acquire skills for self- employment. The priority under this scheme was given to women and youth belonging to SC/ST category. The Government launched the IRDP — Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) in the year 1980 to E create full employment opportunities in rural areas.A new initiative was tried namely RSETI/RUDSETI in 1982 jointly by Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational Trust, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank. The aim of RUDSETI, the acronym of Rural Development And Self Employment Training Institute was to mitigate the unemployment problem among the youth. Rural Self Employment Training Institutes/ RSETIs are now managed by Banks with active cooperation from the state and central Government. The Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) was started in April 1989 by merging the two existing wage employment programme i.e. RLEGP — Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme and NREP — National Rural Employment Programme on an 80:20 cost-sharing basis between the state and centre.¢ MNREGA - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act launched in 2005 providing the right to work to people. An employment scheme of MGNREGA aimed to provide social security by guaranteeing a minimum of 100 days paid work per year to all the families whose adult members opt for unskilled labour-intensive work. For details on MNREGA check the link provided. PMKVY — Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana was launched in 2015. The objective of PMKVY was to enable the youth of the country to take up industry-relevant skill training in order to acquire a secured better livelihood. For further details on Pradhan Mantri Kushal Vikas Yojana check the given c link.¢ The government launched the Start- Up India Scheme in 2016. The aim of Startup India programmes was to develop an ecosystem that nurtures and promotes entrepreneurship across the nation. Check detailed information on Startup India Scheme in the given link. ¢ Stand Up India Scheme also launched in 2016 aimed to facilitate bank loans to women and SC/ST borrowers between Rs 10 lakh and Rs. | crore for setting up a greenfield enterprise. Details on Stand-Up India is given in the linked page. * National Skill Development Mission was set up in November 2014 to drive the ‘Skill India’ agenda in a ‘Mission Mode’ in order to converge the existing skill training initiatives and combine scale and quality of skilling efforts, with speed. Check the National Skill Development Mission in detail.