MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, Sept 3: Jharkhand’s unemployment rose to an eight-month high in August 2022 at 17.3 per cent, which is the fourth highest in the country, according to private research firm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt Ltd (CMIE).
The jobless rate in Jharkhand has been rising since January this year when it was 8.9 per cent. It had fallen from 17.3 per cent in December 2021. The job scenario in the state is fourth worst after Haryana (37.3%), J&K (32.8%) and Rajasthan (31.4%).
“Very few vacancies come to our employment exchanges. And, most of the vacancies that come are from outside the state, which people don’t take due to low packages,” said Labour Director Neha Arora explaining the reason behind low level of employment.
Among the immediate neighbours, Jharkhand is at the bottom in terms of employment. Chhattisgarh has 0.4% (best in the country), Odisha 2.6%, West Bengal 7.4% and Bihar 12.8%. Joblessness in Jharkhand is more than double of India’s jobless rate of 8.3%.
Another striking statistics revealed by the CMIE report is the Labour Participation Rate (LPR) of women in Jharkhand. It’s the lowest in the country at 1.41% for the January-April 2022 period. The all India LPR is 8.97% with Meghalaya at the top with 46%.
While the female population in Jharkhand is taken as 1.22 crore, the number of women labour force is only 1.73 lakh. Of which, just 1.08 lakh are in jobs and 65,000 are trying to get a job. There are 10,000 more that are willing to work but are not actively trying.
“Job generation is dependent on many departments. We are trying to converge with the departments of industry, mining, self employment and entrepreneurship,” said the Director of the Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development.
“The state has also come up with the 75% job reservation Act for the local youths. Both these initiatives are likely to improve our performance on the front of employment in the coming future,” Arora told lagatar24.com in a conversation over the job scenario.
