Nearly a Crore Salaried Employees Lost Jobs over the Last Year

Between March and April, an estimated 70 lakh Indians lost their source of earning and livelihood – most of them had been working in the unorganised sector. Between 2019-20 and 2020-21, the number of salaried employees in India came down from around 8.60 crore to 7.62 crore, implying that about 98 lakh persons had lost their jobs during that period. What is also a matter of grave concern is that at nearly eight per cent, the unemployment rate in April is at its highest in four months. This percentage could rise in the coming months as economic activities have slowed down on account of the second wave of the pandemic, says Mahesh Vyas, Managing Director of the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), in an exclusive interview with Newsclick.