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The Government has made it clear that there is no proposal to prepare an alternative estimate of labour force in the country. The clarification came from the Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Shri Oscar Fernandes in Parliament today. He also said that the government did not undertake any exercise to quantify the unpaid work in the economy.
The Minister, however said that the Central Statistical Organisation conducted a pilot “Time Use Survey” during 1998-99 in six States i.e. Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya. This survey looked into the percentage distribution of time spent on unpaid economic activities in the country. Called the SNA Survey, it looked into primary production activities, secondary activities and trade and business activities, and the time spent on paid and unpaid activities including sex and mode of payment.
Meghalaya topped the list in, percentage of time spent on unpaid activities with 70.64 per cent followed by Haryana 51.58 per cent, Orissa 49.90 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 46.67 per cent, Gujarat 29.70 per cent and Tamil Nadu 26.89 per cent. The average of the six States worked out to be 38.29 per cent.
However, the Ministry is in the process of collecting social statistics for the preparation of the Social Development Index. It has been carrying out a number of research projects relating to the social sector in collaboration with various research institutions of the country. This will help bridge the data gaps in the social sector and in preparing the SDI.
VKS/SR
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