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PMO Awaits Panel Report on Overlap in Job Numbers

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 PMO Awaits Panel Report on Overlap in Job Numbers
Min told to assess quarterly survey & payroll data
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the labour ministry to assess the recently launched payroll data and figure out the extent of overlap with its own quarterly employment survey (QES) that presented a vastly different picture of employment generation in the country. As a result, the labour bureau’s eighth QES, which was due in May, has been put on hold, said officials.
“The PMO has set up a technical committee with a mandate to present its recommendations on employment numbers,” said a senior government official, who did not wish to be identified. “Based on the recommendations of the committee, the PMO will take a call on whether to suspend one of these exercises or to publish both sets of data while keeping in mind the overlap between the two.”The four-member committee, led by former chief statistician of India TCA Anant, is expected to submit its report by month-end. The committee’s other members are the chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian and officials from the labour ministry and the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.
DATA DISPARITY
According to the government’s first-ever estimate of payroll count, over 35 lakh jobs were added in the formal economy in the six months between September 2017 and March 2018. The count was based on Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscription and data from Employees State Insurance Corporation and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.On the contrary, the sixth and seventh QES showed 2 lakh jobs created in April-September 2017. The periods are not comparable since the QES data comes with a lag and has limited outreach to just eight sectors, whereas EPFO data covers all sectors. EPFO data measures relative change in employment over successive quarters for establishments having 10 or more workers. The labour ministry has admitted that QES has limitations, such as absence of units registered after 2014 as it is based on the sixth economic census (2013-14) and does not cover establishments with less than 10 workers.

The Economic Times, New Delhi, 19th June 2018
 

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