The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) released data revealing that India’s unemployment rate in August rose to 8.3%. This is the highest unemployment rate within the past 12 months (refer to Table 1). The unemployment rate in August 2021 was 8.35%.
The unemployment rates among states vary significantly from one another. Haryana, J&K and Rajasthan boast the highest unemployment rates at over 30%.
Chhatisgarh recorded the lowest unemployment rate as 0.4%. Chhatisgarh is estimated to have a population of 3.22 Crores as per Government data. Tribal communities such as Gond, Kanwar and Oraon constitute approximately 31% of the total population.
Why Chhatisgarh has the lowest unemployment rate in India?
The state government has launched a few job schemes for its youth over the past couple of years. This is in line with the central government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent think tank.
These schemes appear to have contributed to lowering Chhattisgarh’s unemployment rate to 0.6% by March of this year, while India’s overall unemployment rate was at 7.8%.
Under the overarching objective of uplifting the economy, the state government has created new employment opportunities through the implementation of programmes such as Godhan Nyay Yojana, the constitution of Tea-Coffee Board, equal status of fisheries and production of agriculture, Millet Mission and commercial plantation.
Sanjeev Prashar, Senior faculty at Indian Institute of Management, Raipur
