The government is soon likely to publish integrated real-time employment data on the ‘Prayas’ portal, to present a timely picture of the job situation in the country.
According to a senior official, the Prayas portal–a website which contains data of all government schemes of different ministries–will start publishing real-time employment data, an outcome of schemes and projects by creating synergies across ministries/departments.
“We’re currently working on consolidating employment related data across ministries to capture job generation through various schemes at one place,” an official said. “By April or May, the data would likely be published on the portal,” the person added.
The Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) in recent months has held consultations with over 20 Union ministries and departments in an attempt to build synergies and integrate efforts, which currently exists in silos, said the sources.
The MoLE has also held deliberations with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and NITI Aayog regarding strengthening coordination and data assimilation for both overseas employment and domestic job creation, as well as to enhance the monitoring of recruiting agencies and skill requirements for employment abroad.
These meetings highlight the government’s dedication to closing existing data gaps, particularly in the informal sector, while also working on the development of a comprehensive, multi-sector employment data portal to support policy-making and job creation efforts, say experts.
In the absence of real-time data, policy makers currently rely on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to assess the employment scenario in the country. To an extent, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)-KLEMS database is also looked at to make such assessments.
The KLEMS database, however, gives an estimate of the total employment in the country based on data sourced through PLFS, Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE). Therefore, it doesn’t give an absolute picture of employment, say experts.