PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN YOJANA ,” MAGIC WAND IN COVID SITUATION “

The numbers of Unemployment rate of India were not good & this pandemic have done the work of fuel in the fire . In January 2021, India saw an unemployment rate of over six percent. This was a significant improvement from the previous month. A damaging impact on an economy as large as India’s caused due a total lockdown was imminent. Unemployment went up to nearly 24 percent in April 2020. This was possibly a result of a decrease in demand as well as the disruption of workforce faced by companies.

The most drastic impact of pandemic was lockdown , & the most drastic impact of lockdown was on economically backward class ,because these people don’t have good medical system , & people from these sections mostly were of labour class , all factories & construction sites were shut , without employment & with no money left in their hands , these people were left unemployed . In India employment rate in 2019 was 5.36% which increased by over 6 % in 2021. These were not good numbers for India. Before numbers of unemployment one major thing to keep in consideration was these economically backward class . For these people , our honorable prime minister , Shri Narender Modi Ji launched a yojana named as “PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN YOJANA” .

Just to give you all a gist of what this yojana is & what are the benefits of this yojana , & how this yojana worked as a magic wand for all the poor people who were left unemployed & lost their loved ones due to COVID19 .

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana / Package is a comprehensive relief package of Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore Yojana for the poor to help them fight the battle against Corona Virus. This was announced in March 2020, to reach out to the poorest of the poor, with food and money in hands, so that they do not face difficulties in buying essential supplies and meeting essential needs. The package included the measures listed hereunder from 30th March 2020:

  • Insurance cover of Rs 50 Lakh per health worker fighting COVID-19 to be provided under Insurance Scheme – extended for one year effective April 2021
  • 80 crore poor people will to get 5 kg wheat or rice and 1 kg of preferred pulses for free every month for the next three months – extended to November 2021 (initially, the package was extended to May & June 2021; originally, it was extended to November 2020)
  • 20 crore women Jan Dhan account holders to get Rs 500 per month for next three months
  • Increase in MNREGA wage to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182 to benefit 13.62 crore families
  • An ex-gratia of Rs 1,000 to 3 crore poor senior citizen, poor widows and poor disabled
  • Government to front-load Rs 2,000 paid to farmers in first week of April 2020 under existing PM Kisan Yojana to benefit 8.7 crore farmers
  • Central Government has given orders to State Governments to use Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund to provide relief to Construction Workers.

Our government is providing food , money & insurance facility to the weaker sections of the society, so that though being unemployed they don’t sleep empty stomach. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 312 billion Indian rupees were accrued and provided to around 331 million beneficiaries that included women, construction workers, farmers, and senior citizens. More aid was announced in mid-May, to mainly support small businesses through the crisis. Coming to the conclusion , though unemployment numbers are rising but government is much concerned about the living of people , & is much concerned about health of people , because govt. knows that is people will live , they can make living too.

UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA

New job creation is a critical endeavour that has a significant economic impact. For most countries, the economic crisis has morphed into a social crisis, resulting in a high rate of unemployment. Unemployment is a condition in which people have the aptitude and ability to work and earn money but are unable to do so due to a lack of suitable employment opportunities. It is also known as “involuntary inactivity.” Unemployment does not imply that there isn’t any work available. It literally means ‘lack of work.’ Unemployment can be characterized as a situation in which a substantial number of able-bodied people of working age are willing to work but are unable to do so at the present wage rate.
The number of persons who are unable to acquire work in relation to the available people in the labor market measures the rate of unemployment in a given country.
Seasonal, Frictional, Cyclical, and Structural unemployment are the most common types of unemployment. In terms of population density, India is the world’s second largest country. The country’s unemployment rate is quite high, owing to the large number of people who are unable to find work.

TYPES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN INDIA :

Rural Unemployment in India: India’s rural population accounts for around 70% of the total population. However, there is insufficient employment in rural areas for everyone. This can result in two types of unemployment. Unemployment and underemployment are problems that exist in the rural economy at the same time.

Frictional Unemployment: It occurs when people are unemployed for a brief period of time while looking for a new job or changing occupations. The time gap between jobs is known as frictional unemployment, also known as Search Unemployment. Frictional unemployment is referred to as voluntary unemployment because the source of unemployment is not a lack of jobs, but rather the workers’ own decision to leave in search of better chances. It exists because people move from places, jobs, and sectors where their productivity is low to places where their productivity is high, and they should be encouraged to do so.

Disguised Unemployment: This refers to the large number of rural people who are employed in agriculture in excess of what is required due to increased pressure on land. Uncovering hidden unemployment is most common in the unorganized sector or in agriculture.

Seasonal Unemployment: This word is self-explanatory. Seasonal unemployment is common in industries including construction, agriculture, canning, and tourism, where the weather or the calendar dictates when production can be carried out or demand levels. It is common to utilize seasonally adjusted unemployment figures for measuring the business cycle and the strength of demand in the labor market.
Underemployment is a word that can be used to describe this situation. That state of unemployment in which people are unemployed for part of the year, such as in India, where laborers are rarely employed all year.

Structural Unemployment: When a country’s economic structure changes dramatically, structural unemployment occurs. Normally, these changes have an impact on the demand for or supply of a production factor. In other words, structural unemployment is a result of global technological and economic development in every field. This type of unemployment occurs when a worker’s abilities do not meet the market’s job availability. Many people in India do not acquire occupations that match their talents or do not get positions owing to a lack of essential skills, and because of their low education level, it is critical to offer them with relevant training.

Technological Unemployment: Technological unemployment develops as a result of specific changes in production procedures that do not necessitate a large amount of manual labor. Modern technology has overtaken the need for and significance of physical labor in recent years, resulting in technical unemployment. According to World Bank data from 2016, the proportion of jobs in India threatened by automation increased by 69 percent year over year.

Causes of Unemployment in India:

  • The Joint Family System
  • Specialization in the Workplace
  • Low Rates of Economic Growth
  • Mobility of the workforce
  • Norms of Conduct
  • Cottage and small-scale industries are on the decline.
  • Population growth and technological advancements
  • A Scarcity of physical capital