Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar launches applications for five pan-India surveys

The minister also released instruction manuals with questionnaires for the surveys being conducted by the Labour Bureau

Stressing on the importance of accurate data for policymaking, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Thursday launched software applications for five pan-India surveys, including on migrant and domestic workers.

The minister also released instruction manuals with questionnaires for the five pan-India surveys being conducted by the Labour Bureau.

Addressing the occasion, Gangwar said, "Accurate data plays an important role in policymaking. In the absence of accurate data, you cannot analyse the present situation and its impact in the future. It is important so that the benefits of policies percolate down to grass-route level."

He informed that with the use of information technology, 30 to 40 per cent of time would be saved while conducting these five surveys and an IT partner would also be roped in for the purpose.

These five surveys being undertaken by the Labour Bureau are -- All-India Survey on Migrant workers, All-India Survey on Domestic Workers, All-India Survey on Employment Generated by Professionals, All-India Survey on Employment Generated in Transport Sector, and All-India Quarterly Establishment based Employment Survey.

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On this occasion, Labour Secretary Apurva Chandra said that timely release of data is important as it enables to evaluate the efficacy of the government policies on the ground.

He said, "A couple of months back, Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana (ABRY) with an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore for two years was launched. This is aimed at providing employment to 54 lakh new workers in fold of EPFO. The efficacy of these schemes would be known through these surveys."

Under ABRY, the government of India will pay both 12 per cent employees' contribution and 12 per cent employers' contribution i.e. 24 per cent of wages towards EPF (employees provident fund scheme) in respect of new employees for two years.

Chandra also said that repeatability of the surveys are also important for assessing the impact of policies over a period of time.

The objective of the All-India Survey on Domestic Workers (DW) would be to estimate the proportion of DW in the workforce by major states and across India and percentage distribution of these DWs/households that employ them by important socio-demographic key characteristics.

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The survey on migrant workers is aimed at finding the estimated number of migrant workers in India and also collecting information on their living conditions, working conditions and other socio-economic conditions.

The objectives of the all-India survey on employment generated by professionals are essentially two-fold, firstly to estimate the total number of active professionals in the country and secondly to capture the employment generated by these professionals.

The survey on employment generated in the Transport Sector would assess the number of jobs generated in the said sector in the country.

The main objective of the All-India Quarterly Establishment based Employment Survey is to measure the relative change in employment situation over successive quarters in a sizeable segment of the non-farm economy covering eight important sectors of the Indian economy.

The results of these surveys will be declared within seven to eight months, including six months of fieldwork.

The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment has been at the forefront in fulfilling the data needs of various stakeholders in the field of labour & employment since 1920.