The Government considers Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be kinetic enabler for the growth of the country’s digital economy, investments and jobs. The government has taken various initiatives to expand AI ecosystem and connect the AI opportunities to the youth of the country, the minister told the Lok Sabha.
The data on Employment and Unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. The survey period is July to June every year.
As per the latest available Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reports, the estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above during the year 2022-23 was 56 per cent. It was 52.6 per cent and 52.9 per cent in the years 2020-21 and 2021-22, the Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameshwar Teli told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Monday.
The minister said that the data indicates that the worker population ratio, indicating employment, has seen an increasing trend over the years.
As per the fourth round of Quarterly Employment Survey (QES: January-March, 2022), the estimated total employment in the nine selected sectors was 3.18 crore as compared to 2.37 crore in the sixth Economic Census (2013-14).
The Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) is conducted by Labour Bureau which aims to assess the employment situation in respect of selected nine sectors of non-farm economy of India over successive quarters covering nine selected sectors, viz. manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation and restaurants, information technology (IT)/ business process outsourcing (BPO) and financial services.
As per the fourth round of QES (January-March, 2022), the estimated employment in the Information Technology (IT)/ Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector has increased to 38.31 lakhs as compared to 20.71 lakh during first round of QES (April-June, 2021), which indicates the increase in employment in IT/BPO sector.
The Government considers Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be kinetic enabler for the growth of the country’s digital economy, investments and jobs. The government has taken various initiatives to expand AI ecosystem and connect the AI opportunities to the youth of the country, the minister said.
The Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme aims to enhance the number of PhDs in Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM) and IT/IT Enabled Services (IT/ITES) sectors including AI and Emerging Technologies.
The minister said that the NITI Aayog had released the ‘National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence’ (NSAI). NITI Aayog has decided to focus on five sectors that are envisioned to benefit the most from AI in solving societal needs: a) Healthcare: increased access and affordability of quality healthcare, b) Agriculture: enhanced farmers’ income, increased farm productivity and reduction of wastage, c) Education: improved access and quality of education, d) Smart Cities and Infrastructure: efficient and connectivity for the burgeoning urban population, and e) Smart Mobility and Transportation: smarter and safer modes of transportation and better traffic and congestion problems.
