Union Government Refutes Citigroup Report on Employment in India

The Union Government has rejected a recent research report by Citigroup that predicts India will struggle to create enough employment opportunities even with a 7% growth rate. The Ministry of Labour and Employment stated that the report does not consider all official data sources available in the public domain and ignores the positive employment data from official sources like the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Reserve Bank of India’s KLEMS data.

The ministry highlighted that official data sources such as PLFS, RBI, and EPFO show consistent improvements in key labor market indicators. These include an increased Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and a declining Unemployment Rate over the last five years. EPFO and NPS data further support these positive employment trends.

The Ministry noted that sectors like manufacturing, services, and infrastructure are expanding, and new opportunities are emerging in areas like the gig economy and Global Capability Centers (GCCs). These trends indicate strong future employment prospects.

According to PLFS and RBI’s KLEMS data, India created over 80 million jobs from 2017-18 to 2021-22, averaging more than 20 million jobs per year. This contradicts Citigroup’s assertion about India’s inability to generate sufficient employment. During 2023-24, over 13 million people joined EPFO, more than double the 6.1 million who joined in 2018-19. From September 2017 to March 2024, over 62 million net subscribers joined EPFO.

The Annual PLFS report also shows the Labour Force Participation Rate increased from 49.8% in 2017-18 to 57.9% in 2022-23, while the Unemployment Rate fell from 6.0% to 3.2%. The data indicates more job opportunities have been created than people joining the labor force, leading to a consistent reduction in the unemployment rate. The ministry emphasized the credibility of official data and cautioned against relying on selective private data sources that can lead to misleading conclusions.