‘Nearly 10%’ of Indians are without jobs

Nearly 10% of Indians are without jobs, a new study of the country’s labour force has found.The study by the federal labour ministry was conducted in some 46,000 households in 28 states all over the country.It also found that over 85% of Indians had no access to social security.Various surveys have pegged India’s unemployment rate between 2.8 to more than 10%. Analysts say the actual figure is much higher.They say most of the surveys do not reveal the rising “underemployment” – those who have given up looking for work or are part-timers seeking full-time posts – in the country.The latest study for 2009-2010 by the Labour Bureau was conducted in 300 districts of the country among people who were between 15 and 59 years old.It found that 9.4% of the people were unemployed or jobless for more than six months.
It also found that more than 11% of people in rural areas were jobless compared to 7.3% in urban areas.The rate of joblessness among women was higher than men, the survey said.While more than 70% of the working people were self-employed as casual workers, only 17% were earning regular wages and salaries.The labour survey found that every year the number of people working in rural areas is diminishing.Economic analysts say that unemployment figures in India do not reveal the true extent of joblessness in the country.They say that the joblessness rates often show a decline because the surveys are conducted when the respondents are working for short periods in the country’s jobs for work programme.Experts say that many of those who have found employment are in the unorganised casual sector, which means they no recourse to any kind of social security – Bbc