Data leak of unemployment figures serious: Govt
New Delhi: The government Thursday admitted in the Rajya Sabha that there has been a data leak of unemployment figures and said efforts were being made to ascertain who was behind it.
Replying to queries during Question Hour, Minister of State for Planning and Statistics Rao Inderjit Singh termed the issue as "serious" and said data pertaining to unemployment figures was leaked ahead of its announcement in May this year.
He also informed members that the government has changed the methodology for ascertaining unemployment rates as a periodic survey is now being held every year based on quarterly data, against the five-year surveys earlier.
"It is right that there was a data leak. Our survey result was to come out on May 30, 2019, but before that the data was leaked. We have taken this very seriously. Maybe someone has an agenda behind it and the data was leaked. We are making efforts to ascertain who was behind the leak," the minister told members.
He said employment and unemployment rate surveys used to be held once in five years. "This government deemed it fit to carry out a periodic survey every year," he said.
Singh said some changes were also made in the methodology and technology was used and that is why there is a difference in previous surveys done by NSSO.
He said the 2.2 unemployment rate would have been same as brought out by the NSSO earlier if it was made out for five years, but this has increased both in rural and urban areas as the methodology has changed.
"The new model for labour employment and unemployment is different from early methods and you cannot compare apples with oranges.
"The new method now is a yearly method taking into account quarterly surveys. The only comparability that can happen is when the next year data comes. At present, it was compared to 6.1 per cent and the yearly data cannot be compared with the 5-year figure," he said.
The minister said the government takes unemployment very "very seriously" and to alleviate the unemployment scenario, the government has taken a number of steps.
Listing out some examples, he said the prime minister's employment generation programme itself has catered to employment of 14.3 lakh till November 30, 2018, the Deen Dayal Gramin Kaushal Yojna has helped 4.73 lakh people get jobs, MNREGA over past 3.5 to 4 has helped 972.99 person employment days.
"Taking into account the seriousness of the matter, the government has set up a cabinet committee on employment and skill development to ensure that more people get jobs," he said.
In his written reply, the minister said, this Ministry has launched a new regular Employment-Unemployment survey, namely, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) during 2017-18 with certain changes in survey methodology, data collection mechanism and sampling design vis--vis the earlier quinquennial (once in every five years) Employment and Unemployment surveys of NSSO.
These differences in methodology put certain limitations in respect of comparability of results of PLFS with results of the earlier quinquennial surveys on EmploymentUnemployment conducted by NSS, he said.
"Based on the first estimates, available from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), released on 31st May 2019, unemployment rate in usual status is 6.1 percent," he said.
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31 students test positive during anti-drug screening drive in educational institutions in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): Thirty-one students tested positive during an anti-drug screening drive conducted in educational institutions in Vijayanagar area of the city, police said on Thursday.
The drive was conducted as part of Karnataka State Police department's newly introduced initiative called "Sanmitra" aimed to address the serious issue of drug addiction, which has been severely impacting the youth across the state, they said.
This initiative aims to adopt a transformative approach to find solutions and take compassionate steps towards building a drug-free society, police said.
According to police, as part of this directive, on March 4, under the leadership of DCP West Division Yatheesh N, inspections related to drug consumption were conducted within the limits of Vijayanagar Sub-Division police stations under Bengaluru City Police Commissionerate.
With the consent and no-objection certificates obtained from the management of six educational institutions and two hostels, inspections and checks were carried out.
"Urine samples were collected from more than 1,200 students, out of which 585 samples were randomly tested, and 31 samples were found to be positive," police said in a statement.
The operation was conducted with the full cooperation of officers and staff of local police stations, along with doctors, technicians, and staff from nearby hospitals, police said.
Necessary arrangements will be made to provide counseling with mental health professionals and to ensure required medical support for those in need, they said.
The identity and family details of individuals tested will be kept strictly confidential, police assured.
