Proportion Of Salaried Workers On The Rise: NSSO Survey

New Delhi: Amid reports of a failing job market, there is some good news for the government to feel optimistic about. Latest survey has revealed that the proportion of salaried workers among those who are employed was on the rise in 2017-18.

1. The rise in the proportion of regular salaried workers was more in rural areas than in urban parts.

2. The proportion of regular salaried workers rose to 13.1 per cent in rural areas in 2017-18 from 8.1 per cent in 2011-12 and 7.1 per cent in 2004-05.

3. In urban parts, the proportion increased to 47 per cent in 2017-18 from 43.4 per cent in 2011-12 and 39.5 per cent in 2004-05.

4. But, the working conditions of regular, salaried workers worsened in 2017-18, with less people getting access to formal contracts, social security benefits and paid-leave benefits.

5. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)’s latest household survey was published by Business Standard.

6. The survey would give the government reasons to cheer as the salaried class is known to have supported the Narendra Modi government during the last general elections.

7. The Modi administration is already smarting from the leaked results carried out by the same agency which revealed that India’s unemployment rate has hit a 45-year-high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18.

8. It has, however, contested the findings, arguing that the survey has failed to capture the employment market correctly; deciding to carry out a fresh study all over again.

9. The NSSO survey had revealed that there was a jump in the unemployment rate across major religions and social groups in 2017-18.

10. The unemployment rate rose the sharpest among Sikhs (ranging from 2-5 times in urban and rural areas), followed by Hindus whose joblessness rate doubled in cities and tripled in the villages, in 2017-18, compared to 2011-12.

11. The unemployment rate among Muslims more than doubled, even as that among Christians also rose across the country during this period.