Unemployment and Employment Generation Schemes in India

Unemployment

Unemployment is the situation where people actively looking for paid work are unable to find a job. It indicates an underutilization of the labour force and can negatively impact individual well-being through reduced income and morale, and harm the economy by decreasing spending and output. The unemployment rate is a key economic indicator measuring the percentage of the total labour force that is unemployed.

Types of Unemployment –

Unemployment can be categorised into various forms such as: -

1. Seasonal Unemployment –

It is caused by time pattern of a particular occupation. It is found in particular industries or in agriculture sector through seasonal variation in their activity brought about by climate change. It occurs due to lack of productive work during certain period of the year.

2. Frictional Unemployment –

It occurs due to economical friction or bottleneck. It takes place due to several reasons.

For eg.: it may occur due to change in demand. Such changes in demand may take pace due to mere changes in consumer’s taste and preferences.

It may also occur due to economic progress or introduction to new machinery or techniques. It occurs only for a temporary period and it should not be considered as an unhealthy sign of economy.

3. Disguised Unemployment –

Disguised unemployment, also known as hidden unemployment, occurs when more people are engaged in a job or task than are actually required, resulting in some workers having little to no impact on the overall productivity or output of that job.

This situation, common in the agricultural and informal sectors of developing economies, appears as employment but represents underemployment, where individuals are working below their capacity or on redundant tasks.

4. Structural Unemployment –

Structural unemployment is the mismatch between the skills workers have and the skills employers need, caused by long-term shifts in the economy like technological advancements, globalization, or changes in industries. This leads to persistent joblessness because workers may lack the necessary qualifications for available positions, forcing them to acquire new skills or relocate to find suitable work.

5. Cyclical Unemployment –

It is a common type of unemployment in an industrially developed capital economy. It occurs due to changes in trade cycle or business cycle.

It refers to the joblessness that results from downturns in the economic cycle, such as recessions, when businesses reduce hiring and lay off workers due to decreased consumer demand and production. It fluctuates with the economy's ups and downs, rising during economic contractions and falling during expansions.   

For eg.: mass layoff during Covid-19 pandemic, when overall economic activity slowed significantly, leading to widespread unemployment.

6. Technological Unemployment –

It occurs due to rapid technological improvements, that replace human labour with automation or machines, essentially reducing the need for workers in certain sectors. As a result, causing loss of jobs.

Employment Generation Schemes in India

Various employment generation schemes in India are as follows: -

1. Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) –

1. Launched – April 1, 1999
2. Objective – to organize rural below poverty line households into self-help groups and link them with training, credit, technology and markets so that they can take up self-employment and create income-generating assets.
3. The scheme was implemented on a cost-sharing basis of 75:25 between the Centre and State Governments and had special focus on vulnerable sections such as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women and persons with disabilities. 
4. It was restructured and renamed the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and subsequently Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in 2016.

2. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) –

1. Operated from – December 1, 1997
2. The scheme provides gainful employment to the urban unemployed and underemployed poor by encouraging the setting up of self – employment ventures by the urban poor and also by providing wage employment and utilising their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets.
3. It has five components –
4. The Urban Self – Employment Programme;
5. The Urban Women Self – Help Programme;
6. Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor;
7. Urban Wage Employment Programme; and
8. Urban Community Development Network.

1. it was restructured and renamed the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) in 2014-15. The NULM is the current program that provides gainful employment to the urban poor through self-employment and wage employment opportunities. 

3. Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) –

1. Launched on – October 2, 1993
2. It was designed to provide self – employment to more than a million educated unemployed youth by setting up of 7 lakh micro – enterprises under 8^th five - year plan.
3. PMRY was replaced with Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in 1997.

4. National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) –

1. Launched in – October 1980
2. Aimed at – generating employment opportunities in rural areas by creating durable community assets.
3. NREP was a centrally sponsored scheme, with the central and state governments sharing the financial burden.
4. It focused on providing wage employment to the rural poor, thereby improving their income levels and quality of life.
5. NREP was later merged with Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme in 1989 to form Jawahar Rozgar Yojana.

5. Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme –

1. Launched on – August 15, 1983
2. Aim – at providing guarantee of employment to at least one member of the landless household for 100 days in a year.
3. Infrastructural development was undertaken with a view to create employment opportunities for rural landless households.

6. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) –

1. Launched in – 2005
2. It provides 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.
3. Workers are entitled to the statutory minimum wage.
4. MGNREGA acts as a safety net, providing employment when other opportunities are scarce.

7. Atmanirbhar Bharat Yojana (ABRY) –

1. Launched on – 1^st October 2020
2. Aim/Objective - to incentivize employers for creation of new employment and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic.
3. Since inception of the scheme, as on 31.03.2024, benefits have been provided to 60.49 lakhs beneficiaries in the country.

8. Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) –

1. Launched on – 1 April 2016
2. Aim/Objective - to incentivise employers for creation of new employment.

9. National Career Service (NCS) Project –

1. Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, is running the National Career Service (NCS) Portal which is a one-stop solution for providing career related services including jobs from private and government sectors, information on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through a digital platform.

10. Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs) –

1. Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs) is a Bank led Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) funded training institution established by the Sponsor Banks in their Districts, to provide training for Skill and Entrepreneurship Development.
2.  MoRD extends financial support for the construction of RSETI building and also bears the cost of training the Rural Poor candidates. 
3. Any unemployed youth in the age group of 18-45 years having an aptitude to take up self-employment or wage employment and having some basic knowledge in the related field can undergo training at RSETI. Some of the trained candidates may also seek regular salaried jobs / wage employment.