Employment to Labourers

Average number of days of employment per year for all usual status workers was projected at 318 days during 2006-07 to 2011-12 under the Eleventh Five Year Plan. As per results of 66th round of quinquennial labour force survey on employment and unemployment conducted by National Sample Survey Office conducted during 2009-10, average number of days per year for all usual status workers was estimated to be 318 days that exactly corresponds to projected figure under the Eleventh Plan. Corresponding figure for wage labour during the same period was estimated at 307 days per year. Maintaining average number of 318 days of employment in a year, total requirement of persondays in a day for wage labourer could be around 1997.33 million during 2009-10.

Government is taking all necessary steps to enhance the employment in the country by promoting growth of labour intensive sectors such as Construction, Real Estate and Housing, Transport, Tourism, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Information Technology Enabled Services and a range of other new services. Besides, Government is also implementing various employment generation programmes, such as, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, Swaranajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana.

Approach Paper to the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) suggests focus on faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth for creating adequate livelihood opportunities. Such job opportunities could come from faster expansion in agro-processing, supply chains, steady modernization in farming, maintenance of equipment & other elements of rural infrastructure and the services sector.