After CMIE data shows rise in unemployment, labour ministry warns against surveys by private firms

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: The Union labour ministry on Wednesday cautioned against private organisations conducting surveys on unemployment.

The move comes only three days after a private think tank called Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy(CMIE) showed that the unemployment rate in India had increased to a 16-month high of 8.3% in December. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the unemployment rate in India stood at 8% during the month of November.

Due to the lack of monthly figures provided officially, policy researchers and economists tend to rely on data from such think tanks. The annual EmploymentUnemployment Survey was scrapped in the year 2017. After March 2018, the Modi government also discontinued the Labour Bureau’s quarterly enterprise surveys.

Titled “Rebuttal to the news on unemployment rate”, the ministry issued a press note and claimed that many private organisations conduct such surveys in accordance with their methodologies, which are “generally neither scientific nor based on internationally accepted norms.” The press note has not directly referred to the CMIE's details of the unemployment rate, but has said “a survey conducted by a private company has been reported by the media.”

“Themethodology used by these companies/ organisations usually have a bias towards overreporting unemployment or under-reporting employment due to their own sampling procedure and definitions used for collection of data on employment/unemployment,” the labour ministry stated. “The results of such surveys should be used with caution.” 

The Station House Officer (SHO) noticed Vinod lying unconscious around 3:45 am and he was immediately taken to the Victoria Hospital where he was declared brought dead by the doctors, sources told News Trail. A case of custodial death has been registered in connection with the incident.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, West Division, Laxman Nimbargi, informed the Bengaluru Police Commissioner CH Pratap Reddy regarding the matter and recommended that the case be handed over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID).