-Newsclick.in In the flagship programme for setting up micro-enterprises (PMEGP), the estimates of employment are highly inflated. In response to a question put up by a group of MPs in Lok Sabha, Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar said on December 17 that the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) has “generated” 17.6 lakh jobs since 2014-15. He gave year-wise figures till November 30, 2018. These figures seem to be highly inflated and...

KEY TRENDS   • In 2017-18, 24.8 percent of rural working-age men and 74.5 percent of rural working-age (viz. 15-59 years) women were not employed. In urban areas, 25.8 percent of working-age men and 80.2 percent of working-age women were not employed AB   • Both the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Consumer Pyramids Survey of the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE-CPDX) report the overall unemployment rate to be around 6 per cent in 2018,...

**page** [inside]KEY TRENDS of the Union Budget 2023-24[/inside] Budget 2023-24 is the last full budget before the general election scheduled for 2024. An analysis of the budget allocations suggests that the union government has squeezed expenditure, particularly on food subsidy and the NREGA budget, while boosting Capital expenditure and giving the middle class tax benefits. Social sector activists working on Right to Food, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) came out with...