The first three months of the Covid-19-induced lockdown in 2020 led to a 7.5% reduction in formal sector employment, the government told Parliament on Monday and added it does not have data on the impact of the curbs on jobs post-June 2020.
The government provided the data in response to Bharatiya Janata Party member Brijendra Singh’s question in Lok Sabha. Singh sought to know whether the government was aware of disproportionately high levels of lockdown-related job losses among women.
The labour and employment ministry cited data from the first Quarterly Employment Survey of 2020-2021 and said the number of men employed in nine sectors, including manufacturing, transport, and construction, fell to over 20 million from over 21 million. Similarly, women’s employment also fell to over 8.3 million from 9 million.
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The survey took into account only the formal sector. The International Labour Organisation said this year that close to 81% of people in India work in the informal sector; 6.5% in the formal and 0.8% in the household sector.
The government cited the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana Scheme launched last year when asked about initiatives taken to boost women’s employment. The scheme was implemented for the creation of employment and to provide social security benefits and restoration of lost employment during the pandemic. The government said the scheme has benefitted 2.2 million beneficiaries including 570,000 women.
{{/usCountry}}The government cited the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana Scheme launched last year when asked about initiatives taken to boost women’s employment. The scheme was implemented for the creation of employment and to provide social security benefits and restoration of lost employment during the pandemic. The government said the scheme has benefitted 2.2 million beneficiaries including 570,000 women.
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