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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt admits big gaps in urban work force -Basant Kumar Mohanty

Govt admits big gaps in urban work force -Basant Kumar Mohanty

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published Published on Nov 20, 2016   modified Modified on Nov 20, 2016
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: About 57.57 per cent of India's urban population of 300 million has no source of income, socio-economic data released by the government last week suggests, prompting at least one analyst to wonder if this was the reason people were willing to queue up for the whole day to exchange cash.

Thirty-seven per cent are engaged in work ranging from begging to government jobs, earning some income. About 5.90 per cent do not work but get some income from rent or interest.

While 37 per cent urban people are either below 18 years or above 60 years of age, 63 per cent are in the 18-60 age group constituting the potential workforce. Of the 63 per cent potential workforce, 37 per cent are engaged in some work. The remaining 26 per cent have no jobs in hand.

"The data shows the employment situation is very grim in urban areas. That could be the most plausible reason for people standing in long queues the whole day," said N.C. Saxena, a former member of the erstwhile National Advisory Council that used to advise the UPA government on policy matters.

The urban data was collected by the ministry of housing and poverty alleviation under the socio-economic caste census (SECC) coordinated by the rural development ministry. Urban areas refer to localities coming under municipalities and cities. The data was collected and verified between 2012 and 2014.

The rural development ministry released the socio-economic data for rural areas in July last year. The urban area data was not released as the housing ministry wanted the advice of the Niti Aayog, the new avatar of the Planning Commission which had set up a committee under S.R. Hashim to suggest how to analyse urban data for selection of beneficiaries for welfare schemes.

The housing ministry released the data on the SECC website last week as the Niti Aayog did not respond, official sources said.

The data show that a large section of people in urban areas fall in the vulnerable income category. About 1.5 lakh beggars constitute 0.5 per cent of the urban population. The number of construction workers is 19 million (6.31 per cent).

About 28.6 million (9.54 per cent) people are daily wage earners while 11.3 million workers (3.76 per cent) are irregular wage earners.

Government sources said the data would be used for selection of beneficiaries for welfare schemes like housing for the poor, electrification and so on. So if a household - a family of five - is houseless, it would be included in the targeted beneficiary list.

Nearly one lakh households are houseless while 6.1 lakh households live in accommodation without any exclusive room. About five per cent households do not have electricity in their houses.

Nearly 80 per cent people have mobile phones and 10 per cent houses have a computer at home with Net connection.

Former Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen said the long queues in front of banks could also be because of the dire need for cash among the labour class.

"The labour class get payment in cash. When they find that the notes are not valid, their lives become difficult," Sen said. He said 26 per cent of the potential workforce not having jobs could be attributed to the large chunk of women in urban areas not working. "In rural areas, 35 per cent of women work. But the corresponding figure for urban areas is 20 per cent," Sen said.

The Telegraph, 20 November, 2016, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1161120/jsp/nation/story_120276.jsp#.WDFAEn371_k


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