Task force to assess employment data

New Delhi: Understanding the significance of having a reliable and periodical data on employment, especially in the informal sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday set up a five-member task force headed by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya to recommend solutions in this regard.

The Asian Age had exclusively reported on May 8 that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is spearheading efforts to introduce a periodic labour force survey, which will on real-time basis map employment related data. This in turn will help in assessing the contribution of the informal sector in the economy.

The newspaper had further reported that the periodic labour force survey will facilitate quarterly and annual estimates on employment.

Official sources said that in view of the importance of timely and reliable data on employment, the Prime Minister has directed the PMO and concerned ministries to come up with a solution to fill this long standing gap in the country’s statistical architecture.

Accordingly a task force has been created under the chairmanship of Dr Panagriya with labour secretary Sathiyavathy, secretary statistics T.C.A. Ananth, Pulak Ghosh of Niti Aayog and Manish Sabharwal (member RBI Board) as members.

The task force will recommend solutions which can be implemented in a time-bound manner. The Prime Minister has directed that this task be expedited so that policies on employment can be formulated with a proper appreciation of impacts, based on credible data, official sources informed.