Government to create centralised jobs database
- In Reports
- 03:22 PM, Jul 27, 2024
- Myind Staff
On Friday, New Delhi's Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya led interministerial discussions on establishing a centralised database of jobs. He introduced this idea, pointing out that employment data is currently scattered across various agencies and ministries, which may be why there is no comprehensive picture of hiring.
Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and Labour Secretary Sumita Dawra, among others, participated in a meeting with representatives from over a dozen ministries and agencies. Mandaviya emphasised, “There is a need to create linkages between different data sources. Data should not exist in silos.”
Employment numbers are generated by several entities, such as the Reserve Bank and the Ministry of Statistics, which conducts the quarterly and annual Period Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Payroll data is also generated or maintained by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, the state-run retirement fund manager, the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme, the National Pension Scheme, and the state-run think tank Niti Aayog.
“Since several ministries maintain records of employment generated through different federal programmes administered by them, the government could be underestimating total job creation in a given period,” an official said, on condition of anonymity.
While the National Statistical Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation serves as the nodal authority for tracking critical data such as GDP growth and job creation, the Labour and Employment Ministry is responsible for formulating policies, including social schemes, for the workforce.
“The lack of a central database means the government doesn’t have an institutional mechanism to access comprehensive information on jobs data reported by various ministries,” the official quoted above said.
All existing mechanisms for tracking employment, including the flagship sample surveys conducted by the NSO, will remain in place.
The plan is to have all ministries generating employment data seamlessly upload their information onto a centralised platform. This will ensure that data is readily accessible and that there are no gaps in information, according to the official.
The Labour Ministry believes that many programmes aimed at the labour market and their role in job creation are not being fully utilised due to the absence of a central database detailing all such sectoral schemes. The official mentioned that further meetings will be held to finalise the plan.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Labour Secretary Sumita Dawra were present at the meeting, which included officials from 19 departments and ministries. Representatives from industry bodies such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) also participated in the discussions.
Image source: PTI
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