The 61st Round of the NSSO (National Statistical Survey Organisation) quinquennial survey, which covered the period 1999–00 to 2004–05, revealed that 60 million jobs had been created in these five years. As compared to the earlier period (1993–94 to 1999–00), this period witnessed a strong employment growth and a jump in elasticity of employment. Agriculture and informal sector accounted for the major part of this increase in employment. Interestingly, these results hold good whether we use the UPSS (Usual Principle and Subsidiary Status) or CDS (Current Daily Status) measure of employment. The annual employment growth rate under UPSS was 2.89 per cent and that of CDS was 2.62 per cent in 2004–05.
The rich state-wise data thrown up by the 61st Round of the NSS survey shows that the employment numbers for the states also showed strong growth rates. Employment elasticity was very high, with 12 states showing elasticity above 0.38. However, across states there were wide variations in the workforce growth rates ranging from 5.62 per cent to 1.28 per cent. A comparison of the SDP growth rate and the workforce growth rate did not reveal a consistent pattern. There were also sectoral variations in workforce growth. Though agriculture accounted for a large share in the incremental employment, in terms of growth rate, it turned in a relatively weak performance. The other two sectors delivered robust employment numbers. The 61st round was also witness to higher urban workforce growth rates in most states except for Haryana and Kerala. The activity status of the workforce underwent major changes in the 61st round with 11 of the 14 states showing an increase in the growth rates of self employed and 11 of the 14 showing a decline in the growth rate of casual labour. Further, in a welcome development the RWS (Regular Wage and Salaried) segment of the workforce, which approximates the organised sector workforce, showed positive growth rates for all states.
