'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
After adding 11.7 million workers in the October 2022-September 2023 period from the pandemic lows in April 2021-March 2022, total workers employed in the vast informal sector in India - at 109.6 million - still remains below the pre-pandemic period.
The unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 6.7 per cent in the January-March period from 6.8 per cent a year ago, according to the National Sample Survey Survey (NSSO). Joblessness, or unemployment rate, is defined as the percentage of unemployed people in the labour force. The unemployment rate in the March quarter of FY23 was 6.8 per cent, while it was 6.6 per cent in April-June as well as in the third quarter (July-September 2023) of the previous fiscal.
The rise was more pronounced in urban areas than in the rural areas.
As a well-wisher of the Indian Statistical System and part of the system for more than 37 years, Sunil K Sinha, former DG and CEO of NSSO, offers suggestions to improve data quality.
A recent World Bank report placing India among the most equal countries globally may present a limited view of inequality, with economists suggesting that broader data sets could tell a different story. According to the report, India's Gini index (or coefficient/ratio), a key measure of inequality, stood at 25.5 in 2022-23, placing the country fourth globally in terms of equality, behind only the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Belarus.
A government panel examined the records of employees surveyed by Labour Bureau's quarterly enterprises surveys and mapped it with the EPFO's subscribers and found "unexplained variations" between the two.
Unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years or above declined to 3.1 per cent in 2023, the lowest in the last three years, as per a report of National Sample Survey Organisation under the statistics ministry. According to Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for calender year 2023, the unemployment rate came down to 3.1 per cent in 2023 from 3.6 per cent in 2022 and 4.2 per cent in 2021. Joblessness, or unemployment rate, is defined as the percentage of unemployed people in the labour force.
There is good news for activists fighting to save the dwindling population of tigers in India. A sample survey in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, which is being carried out by the conservation group Aaranyak under the aegis of the Assam Forest and Wildlife Department, has indicated that a sizeable tiger population has survived in the sprawling wildlife sanctuary.The recent deaths of ten tigers in Kaziranga had alarmed the authorities.
India's unemployed, the report said, were mostly those with higher education degrees and the young.
The ICC said a sample survey cannot provide a real picture.
The drought of appropriate employment opportunities and rising incidences of unemployed educated graduates fail to inspire confidence about the future, says Kunal Kumar Kundu
The Survey says that present skilled workforce in India is only 2%.
Real estate buying dropped between 2004 and 2012.
The rate of unemployment in the country, measured in monthly term, rose to 5.6 per cent in May from 5.1 per cent in April this year mainly due to seasonal variation, showed the government data released on Monday.
In the rural areas, 35.3 per cent of the workers are employed as casual labourers while the figure is 14.6 per cent in the urban areas.
Economic growth not only changed the food consumption pattern in rural households but has also encouraged rural India to go for more efficient energy sources like liquefied petroleum gas.
Rediff.com's data journalists have broken down the National Sample Survey Office 68 round (July 2011- June 2012) report data into a state-wise listing.
Unemployment rate for men is the highest in Lucknow among major cities.
According to principal advisor with the Planning Commission and former chief statistician, Pronob Sen, there were 40-45 million more people in the age group of 15-59 between 2004-05 and 2009-10. The unemployment rate has correspondingly fallen from 2.3 per cent to 2 per cent of the labour force.
About 7 crore (70 million) people in the country are either unemployed or under-employed, the National Sample Survey Office has said in its latest report.
The map above visualises the percentage of households that have access to drinking water within the premises as found in the National Sample Survey's 69th round (2012).
The survey carried out by Max New York Life and the NCAER based on income data has found that India has less poverty than estimated by the government's National Sample Survey.
Jaitley said the Budget proposals would boost the realty sector, which would help meet the housing needs of a vast section of the population.
According to the 66th round of National Sample Survey carried out between July 2009 and June 2010, all India average monthly per capita consumer expenditure in rural areas was Rs 1,054 and urban areas Rs 1,984.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) is in talks with the Department of Posts to take the help of its staff in collecting sample data for the proposed Consumer Price Index for Rural India (CPI-R). The data for the index would be collected from 1,000 villages, Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen said on the sidelines of a national seminar on the results of the 61st round of the National Sample Survey.
Food insecurity and hunger are rooted in bad policies, faulty design, poor governance and a lack of political will.
India's unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above was recorded at a six-year low of 3.2 per cent during July 2022-June 2023, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2022-2023 released by the National Sample Survey Office. Joblessness or unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed persons in the labour force. Considering the importance of the availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, the NSSO launched the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in April 2017.
Rediff's data journalists bring you data about toilet/bathroom and sanitation facilities across India from the 69th round (2012) of National Sample Survey.
This map shows the districts of India with their encroachment levels.
While the dire image of Indians having to travel long distances for water and other basic needs is stuck in most of our heads, the official statics published in the 69th round of the National Sample Survey (2012) actually present quite a heartening picture.
India is planning to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act 2023 to specify the use of funds currently earmarked at 5,600 crore for exploring critical mineral mines overseas, according to a top official. The proposed amendments also aim to introduce a tailings policy and modify the royalty structure to facilitate the extraction of critical minerals from waste materials, the official added.
Employment in India saw a V-shaped recovery after being adversely impacted between April and June 2020 during the Covid lockdown and during April-June 2021, when the second wave struck, said Krishnamurthy V Subramanian, former chief economic advisor, in a paper released on Friday. Subramanian is now serving as executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). From the official survey data of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the paper titled 'Employment in India: Data Sources, Facts, and Trends' showed that both worker-population ratio (WPR) and labour force participation rate (LFPR) were higher, while the unemployment rate was lower during October-December 2022 when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019.
Job opportunities across the country grew at an estimated rate of 2.62 per cent every year, the latest quinquennial (once every five years) analysis by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) showed. The growth of unemployed, at 5.42 per cent per annum, outnumbered the rate of job creation during the survey period between 1999-2000 and 2004-05. Unemployment rate was found to be maximum in qualified graduates in rural and urban parts of the country.
The Indian economy needs to generate an average of nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually until 2030 in the non-farm sector to cater to the rising workforce, according to the Economic Survey for 2023-24. The Survey tabled in Parliament on Monday also laid emphasis on the private sector's role to create employment in the country saying "In more than one respect, the action lies with the private sector. "In terms of financial performance, the corporate sector has never had it so good."
