Unemployment rates vary among religious groups, govt lists plans for employability of minorities

The ministry tabled religion-wise figures for four major religious groups — Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism — for both genders and in rural and urban India. (File Photo)

Across the urban-rural and gender divides, unemployment rates vary among religious groups. This emerges out of data in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2017-18, presented in Lok Sabha on Thursday by the Ministry for Minority Affairs in reply to a question.

The ministry tabled religion-wise figures for four major religious groups — Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism — for both genders and in rural and urban India. Earlier during the ongoing budget session, the Ministry for Labour and Employment had presented the all-India unemployment rates from the 2017-18 PLFS — 5.8% for rural male, 3.8% for rural female, 7.1% for urban male, and 10.8% for urban female.

In his question Thursday, MP Prasun Banerjee also asked whether the government has any plans for minority employment. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi replied that most of the Centre’s socio-economic and educational empowerment programmes are meant for the poor and downtrodden sections, and the minorities are getting equally benefited.

Naqvi added that his ministry has adopted a strategy to enhance the employability of notified minorities (Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis, Jains) through various schemes aimed at educational empowerment, employment-oriented skill development etc. His reply listed a number of these schemes.