Joblessness highest among Christians; Muslims next: Government survey

NEW DELHI: Joblessness is highest among Christians in comparison to other religious groups, reveals a government survey. The unemployment rate in the community stood at 4.5 per cent in villages and 5.9 per cent in cities and towns in 2011-12.

Muslims come next with an unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent in rural and 2.6 per cent in urban areas.

Joblessness increased in villages across all religious communities, with the unemployment rate rising from 1.6 per cent in 2004-05 to 1.7 per cent in 2011-12, according to the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

Many view the high unemployment rate among Christians as a reflection of the higher education levels of community members who are in the job market. Christians have the highest percentage of graduates.

Though the unemployment rate in urban areas came down across all religions from 4.5 per cent in 2004-05 to 3.4 per cent in 2011-12, it remained higher than in rural areas.

Unemployment rates were lowest for Sikhs in villages (1.3 per cent) and Hindus in urban areas (3.3 per cent). The survey has raised serious questions regarding the former UPA government's policies for inclusiveness, with some analysts arguing that the measures failed to generate enough jobs in villages.






Majority of workers in rural areas were self-employed. The proportion of self-employment among males was the highest for Christians (56.6 per cent); among females the share of self-employment was the highest among Sikhs (79 per cent).

In rural areas, a significant proportion of workers (about 35 per cent) -both males and females were engaged as casual labour. Among males, share of casual labour was the highest for Muslims (37.3 per cent) and lowest among Christians (27.4 per cent) while among females, share of casual labour was the highest among Hindus (36.6 per cent) and lowest among Sikhs (14.8 per cent).

Among rural males and females, proportion of regular wage or salaried employment was the highest for Christians (16.1 per cent for males and 14 per cent for females). In urban India, the share of self-employed and salaried employees were almost the same. In cities, highest selfemployment was among Muslims and Sikhs male (52.8 per cent) and for females it was the highest for Muslims (61.3 per cent).The proportion of salaried employment was highest for Christians (49.4 per centfor males and 64.7 per cent for females).