Responding to a recent report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the Union Labour and Employment Ministry on Tuesday said it was “factually incorrect” to infer that half the working age population had dropped out of the labour force as a large proportion was pursuing education or engaged in unpaid activities such as caregiving.
“Employment is the primary concern of the Government of India and various steps are being taken by ministries/departments for generation of employment opportunities in the country… It is important to note that the complete working age population may not be working or seeking work. A substantial portion of working age population is either pursuing education… or engaged in unpaid activities like production of goods for own consumption, unpaid domestic activities or caregiving services for household members, volunteering, training, etc.,” the Ministry said in a statement.
The statement said, according to the Education Ministry, more than 10 crore people were enrolled in secondary, higher secondary, higher or technical education in 2019-2020 and 49% of that was women.
