The total number of enrollments released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) came down by 12.4 percent for the September-May period, from an earlier estimate of 45 lakh to 39 lakh.
The payroll count in June rose by 24 percent to 793,308. The net enrolment numbers for June were the highest since September 2017. In May, the payroll numbers had grown by 10 percent to 638,653.
The payroll count is the difference between the number of workers who joined and exited from the EPFO’s fold. All employees who work in establishment hiring at least 20 workers contribute towards provident fund and pension, managed by the EPFO. The Union government has been citing this data since past few months as an indication for job growth in the economy.
During a debate on the no-confidence motion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed that over 10 million jobs were created in the country in past one year, quoting the payroll data released by EPFO, along with other proxy datasets.
The government started releasing the payroll data since April this year for the period beginning September 2017. The payroll has been revised downwards for each of the nine months between September 2017 and May this year. The downward revision is in the range of 5-27 percent in these months.
The government has temporarily discontinued releasing the Quarterly Employment Survey by the Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and has formed a committee to look into the relevance of the survey. The committee formed under former chief statistician T C A Anant is mandated to suggest whether the QES should be abolished or not, “especially with the publishing of payroll data.” The committee is expected to submit its report next month.
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