A statistical embarrassment | The Indian Express

A statistical embarrassment | The Indian Express

Written by Surjit S Bhalla |Updated: April 13, 2019 1:10:55 am

The writer is Contributing Editor at The Indian Express, and Consulting Editor at Network 18

A statistical embarrassment

Data claiming 45-year peak in unemployment is misleading. Indian institutions are still operating with the technology and outlook of 70 years ago.

These data were for the period July 2017-June 2018, and this is the last official government survey on the labour market — it yielded the result that unemployment, at 6.1 per cent, was at a 45-year high. (Illustration: CR Sasikumar)

There is an old saying — no, it is not a Chinese proverb — which says, “Be careful what you wish for, it might come true”. At present, the political Opposition has made jobs and unemployment their number one issue to unseat the Narendra Modi government. If I were a Congress strategist, I would do exactly what they are doing. Jobs, and the economy, is where the BJP maybe the most vulnerable. And the perception of vulnerability is enhanced by the BJP’s misguided stubbornness to not release the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data on the labour market. These data were for the period July 2017-June 2018, and this is the last official government survey on the labour market — it yielded the result that unemployment, at 6.1 per cent, was at a 45-year high.