The unemployment rate has increased to 7.14% in the week ending July 25, compared to a 5.98% rise the previous week (ending July 18) across India, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) released on Monday showed.
The joblessness has increased both in urban areas and the rural hinterland, the data from the CMIE, a widely cited gauge, said. The CMIE, which is not considered official, tracks the labour market with proprietary tools.
As per CMIE, urban unemployment continues to be higher than rural at 8.01%, up from 7.94% in the previous week. The rural joblessness rate stood at 6.75%, a sharper rise from 5.1% in the previous week.
However, in the context of J&K, there is no immediate survey as to the impact of the pestilence on the jobs even though the scale of joblessness is bound to be on the larger side.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted during 2019-20 by National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, the unemployment rate in J&K (for all the age groups for all persons) on usual status basis (ps+ss) was 6.7 per cent.
In the absence of jobs, people don’t have incomes, which, in turn, makes basic livelihood difficult. The poor are bound to get severely affected, if not already. A large section of the middle class who are staring at salary cuts or job losses are also at the peril. The pandemic has already reduced their purchasing power and ability to pay loans. This, in turn, will have an impact across a range of sectors.
The joblessness has aggregated due to the pandemic which has thrown the economy into a kind of recession and in fact, the risk managers, as per a report by the World Economic Forum, expect a prolonged global slump.
The government in the middle of it is trying it bit to overcome the crisis of sorts. Among others, the government says, Rs 200 crore has been provisioned for 2021- 22 to provide for holistic development of youth of J&K under Mission Youth.
Under Back to Village programme, it said, over 17,000 unemployed youth have been provided financial assistance for self employment ventures through J&K Bank under priority sector lending.
Under the “Himayaat” scheme 20,827 candidates have completed their training and 7076 candidates, a meager 33 per cent, have been placed in job.
While such interventions are welcome, the government has to do a lot more soon to help the unemployed to overcome this crisis.
