Union Minister Santosh Gangwar on Monday stated that as per the results of annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO) during 2017-18, the estimated unemployment rate on usual status basis for persons of age 15 years and above in the country was 6.0 per cent.
Replying in Lok Sabha, Gangwar stated, "As per the results of annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation during 2017-18, the estimated unemployment rate on usual status (principal status + subsidiary status) basis for persons of age 15 years and above in the country was 6.0per cent."
Gangwar stated that employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the government.
"Government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country like encouraging private sector of economy, fast-tracking various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes such as Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)," he added.
Gangwar further stated that under the Skill India Mission, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is implementing a flagship scheme known as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 2016-20 with an objective to provide skilling to one crore people under Short Term Training (STT) and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) across the country for four years (2016-2020) with an outlay of 12,000 crore.
"Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) has been initiated by government inter alia for facilitating self-employment. Under PMMY collateral free loans upto Rs 10 lakh, are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities," Gangwar stated.
"Government has implemented the National Career Service (NCS) project which comprises a digital portal that provides a nation-wide online platform for the job seekers and employers for job-matching in a dynamic, efficient and responsive manner and has a repository of career content to job seekers," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )