Unemployment in Rural Areas

Reliable estimates of employment and unemployment are obtained through quinquennial labour force surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Organization. Last such survey was conducted during 2004-05. As per latest survey report, number of unemployed youth in the age group of 15-29 was estimated at 8.87 million on usual status basis during 2004-05. State-wise details of unemployment rates amongst youth in both rural and urban areas on usual status basis are as under:

Sl. No.	State/Union Territory	Rural	Urban
1.	Andhra Pradesh	1.8	8.5
2.	Arunachal Pradesh	2.5	4.8
3.	Assam	6.8	19.9
4.	Bihar	4.3	17.4
5.	Chhattisgarh	1.3	7.6
6.	Delhi	5.1	10.8
7.	Goa	26.0	18.5
8.	Gujarat	1.4	4.9
9.	Haryana	5.5	9.3
10.	Himachal Pradesh	4.2	9.7
11.	Jammu & Kashmir	4.1	13.6
12.	Jharkhand	3.7	18.6
13.	Karnataka	1.5	6.4
14.	Kerala	26.8	32.5
15.	Madhya Pradesh	1.0	7.3
16.	Maharashtra	2.7	8.4
17.	Manipur	2.6	17.4
18.	Meghalaya	0.7	10.7
19.	Mizoram	0.8	4.8
20.	Nagaland	5.5	18.9
21.	Orissa	10.2	31.7
22.	Punjab	9.7	10.5
23.	Rajasthan	1.8	6.2
24.	Sikkim	6.4	7.9
25.	Tamil Nadu	3.5	8.2
26.	Tripura	32.1	60.1
27.	Uttarakhand	3.3	12.2
28.	Uttar Pradesh	1.5	7.4
29.	West Bengal	6.0	13.2
30.	A&N Islands	13.2	21.5
31.	Chandigarh	6.2	13.9
32.	Dadra & Nagar Haveli	6.9	7.9
33.	Daman & Diu	0.6	4.9
34.	Lakshadweep	16.7	45.5
35.	Puducherry	18.3	25.5
	All India	4.0	10.1

Unemployment rates according to usual status during 2004-05 were 1.7 per cent and 4.5 per cent in rural and urban areas of the country respectively, showing lower rate of unemployment in rural areas.

Government has taken several steps to provide employment to unemployed persons including youth in the country. 11th Five Year Plan aims at creating 58 million work opportunities through normal growth process and by implementing various employment generation programmes, such as, Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP); Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the rural areas besides entrepreneurial development programmes run by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.

Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a credit linked subsidy programme being implemented since 2008-09 by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, aims at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro enterprises by organizing traditional artisans and unemployed youth. During the year 2010-11, 30,729 units were assisted and 2.85 lakh persons provided employment upto 10^th Feb, 2011 and Rs. 593.66 crore have been provided as margin money till January, 2011.

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) is a holistic self employment scheme which aims at providing sustainable income to rural BPL families through income generating assets/ economic activities so as to bring them out of poverty line. During 2010-11 upto January, 2011, Rs. 1880 crore has been released by the Central Government and 14.85 lakh swarojgaries have been assisted.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) provides for enhancement of livelihood security of the households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Rs. 32177.04 crore has been released as Central fund in the current financial year till 22.02.2011 and 158.58 crore of person days employment was generated upto January, 2011.

This information was given by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Labour And Employment in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.