Normativa legal y de respaldo para la determinación de costos

pattern in most of India is that the daily status rate is higher than the weekly status rate (measures of short- term unemployment), and both are much higher than the usual status unemployment rate (a measure of long-term or chronic unemploy- ment). In Tripura, it appears that most unemployment is of a long-term nature (given the small difference between the long-term and short- term unemployment rates).

According to the NSS, unemploy- ment rates have declined between 1993–94 and 1999–2000 in urban 19 _{Data from the Rural Labour Enquiry,}

however, show that female wage earnings were 75 per cent of male wage earnings in 1999– 2000.

20 _{The NSS has three reference periods for} the question on employment status. Usual status refers to the preceding year and anyone who is engaged in any economic activity for a long period of time is considered as gainfully employed. Weekly status counts a person as employed if she has undertaken economic activity for at least one hour on any one day of the preceding week. Daily status counts a person as employed if she has worked for four hours or more on the day preceding the survey. ing 70 per cent of total workers in Jampuii Hills and 16 per cent in Jirania. Similarly, agricultural labour- ers accounted for 59 per cent of all workers in Chhamanu and 6.3 per cent in Jampuii Hills.

The distribution of blocks by the proportion of workers in agriculture shows that in a large number of blocks, agriculture remains the domi- nant occupation.

An interesting feature of agricul- tural employment is the equality be- tween male and female average wages (see Box 2.4).19

2.4.4 Unemployment

The problem of unemployment is acute in Tripura. In 1999–2000, all the unemployment rates in urban Tripura, with the exception of the current daily status rate of unemploy- ment for males, were higher than the corresponding all-India averages.20 For example, among males, usual sta- tus unemployment was 5.4 per cent in Tripura as compared to the national average of 4.5 per cent. All the North Eastern States (except Meghalaya and Mizoram) had higher-than-national average rates of unemployment.

A distinctive feature of unemploy- ment in Tripura (as in several of the

BOX 2.4

Agricultural Wages

According to data from Agricultural Wages in India, there ceased to be a gender gap in the range of agricultural wage rates for male and female labour from the late 1970s (see Figure below).* _{Thus we find that women’s}

wages in agriculture in Tripura were higher than in several States including Assam, but also the high-productivity district of Barddhaman in West Bengal. Interestingly, male wages in Tripura are lower than in Barddhaman though similar to those in the less agriculturally advanced districts of Purulia and Kooch Bihar in West Bengal.

Furthermore, real wages for agricultural workers rose steadily in the 1980s. However, there was a big dip in the early 1990s on account of a rise in inflation, and wages have not yet recovered in real terms.

Real wages in agriculture, Tripura, at 1986–87 prices (in Rs)

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 18.0 20.0 1964-65 1966-67 1968-69 1970-71 1972-73 1974-75 1976-77 1978-79 1980-81 1982-83 1984-85 1986-87 1988-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994-95 1996-97 1998-99 2000-01 Male Female

* The wage series data constructed from Agricultural Wages in India (AWI) refer to one centre in Tripura, Limbucherra (in erstwhile West District and now in Dhalai).

A distinctive feature

of unemployment in

Tripura (as in several of

the North Eastern States)

is that of very little

difference between the

usual status, weekly status

and daily status

BOX 2.5

Public Programmes for Employment Generation

Public programmes for employment generation have been implemented in both rural and urban Tripura.

Self-employment

The Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) was launched in Tripura, as in the rest of India, on 1 April 1999, by redesigning and restructuring all earlier self-employment programmes of the Government of India. The main objective of the SGSY was to bring the assisted poor families above the poverty line by providing them income- generating assets through a combination of bank credit and government subsidy. Funding for SGSY is provided by the Centre and the State in the ratio of 75:25. The target group comprises families below the poverty line in rural areas, with a reservation of 50 per cent for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 40 per cent for women and 3 percent for physically handicapped persons.

The concurrent evaluation of the SGSY, undertaken by the Ministry of Rural Development of the Government of India (2003) in the third year of its implementation, shows that it has been very successful in Tripura. The concurrent evaluation ranked States on the basis of achievements under SGSY. The parameters considered for the ranking were: average investment per below-poverty-line (BPL) family, credit–subsidy ratio, proportion of funds utilized, time taken for disbursement, emphasis given to group vis-à-vis individual approach, emphasis on vulnerable target groups (SC/ ST, women and physically handicapped), incremental income generated from SGSY, expenditure incurred by the beneficiaries, benefits obtained and coverage achieved through basic orientation training, skill development training and visits made by BDOs and bank officials. States were categorized into two groups based on their population – major States, and other States and Union Territories. Tripura’s rank was second among the other States and Union Territories (the top rank in this category was won by Himachal Pradesh).

The SGSY enhanced human development in the State by improving the level of well-being of the economically and socially disadvantaged sections of its population. Many beneficiaries were women (a majority in the case of self-help groups). Around 45 per cent belonged to SC and ST. The programme reached the educationally backward in the State as well as the landless (only 0.4 percent of SGSY beneficiaries owned landed property). Before being assisted under the SGSY, 96 percent of self-employed persons (‘swarozgaris’) were landless agricultural labourers and 5.7 percent were unemployed educated youth.

SGSY activity had a marked social and economic impact on individual self-employed persons: 100 per cent of beneficiaries enjoyed increased incomes, 76 per cent had greater savings and 13 per cent reported improved ‘social prestige’. The average incremental income generated from SGSY activities of 154 sample individual beneficiaries was Rs 7,737 for the three-year period under review. The average incremental income among beneficiaries was Rs 8,800 at the all-India level. The concurrent evaluation shows that the economic impact of SGSY activities on groups has been less satisfactory than on individual beneficiaries. After joining SGSY, incomes have risen for 6.8 per cent of groups. SGSY activities have brought better health and educational facilities to 13 per cent of the members of Self- Help Groups (SHGs), and improved the social prestige of the members. However, the average annual income generated for a sample of twelve groups was only Rs 11,610 (as compared to the national average of Rs 93,346).

(continued on facing page) Number of beneficiaries of SGSY in Tripura, 1999–2000 to 2003–04

Individual beneficiaries Self-Help Groups

Total number 49,269 12,729

Scheduled Tribes as per cent of total 37.2 36.7 Scheduled Castes as per cent of total 18.9 19.9

Women as per cent of total 30.1 66.0

Tripura for both men and women.21 The NSS data on the pattern of unemployment in rural areas show distinct features. First, rural un- employment rates were lower than urban unemployment rates. Secondly, contrary to the all-India trend, un- employment rates fell between 1993 21 _{We have not included the figures from} the NSS 61st _{round for 2004–05 since the} estimates point to huge increases in unemploy- ment rates in Tripura as well as all other States of the North East. For example, the new esti- mates indicate a seven-fold increase in male and female usual status unemployment rates in rural Tripura.

BOX 2.5 (continued)

Wage employment

The Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojna (SGRY) was begun by the Government of India in September 2001 and the employment generated through this has increased steadily every year since its inception except for 2004–05. However, in Tripura, the average days of employment generated per below poverty line (BPL) family was only 32 days in 2003– 04 and 27 in 2004–05. The daily wage paid to workers under SGRY, in cash and the money value of 5 kg of rice, amounts to Rs 50 (which is the minimum wage rate in the State). This suggests that the programme, as it functions now, needs to be stepped up to make a significant impact on poverty and unemployment.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) of 2006 provides for enhancement of livelihood security of rural households by the provision of at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work In Dhalai, the only district selected for the NREGS in the first year, the pace of employment generation has been commendable.* From January to August 2006, a total of 71,800 families, or 90 per cent of families in the district, registered and 64,587 job cards were issued. A total of 3 million person days of employment were generated, that is, around 46 days of employment were provided to each registered job card holder.

In 2006–07, Tripura topped all States of India in respect of the person-days of employment generated per household under NREGA. The generation of 87 days of employment per beneficiary household, very close to the stated goal of 100 days in the Act, is “an unprecedented achievement in the history of social security in India” (Dreze and Oldiges 2007). Nonetheless, the programme of employment generation has to be expanded in terms of both coverage of districts and scale of employment to make a dent on unemployment. Future expansion of employment must also emphasise vocational training and skills in order to help create skilled employment.

Urban programmes

Employment programmes have been less effective in urban areas. From 1998–99 to 2004–05, 4.28 lakh person days of employment were generated in the 12 Nagar Panchayats of the State under the Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) and 25 Development of Women and Children in the Urban Areas (DWCRA) groups were formed. A total of 50,000 person days were generated under UWEP in 2004–05 or roughly an average of one day of work per income- poor urban person. The State Government launched a new State Urban Employment Programme in 2005–06, with the objective of generating additional gainful employment for the unemployed and underemployed of both sexes in the urban areas of the State.

* West and South Districts have been included in the NREGS for 2007–08.

and 1999. Thirdly, both short-term and long-term unemployment rates in rural Tripura in 1999 were lower than the corresponding Indian aver- ages. This was not so in 1993–94. In other words, while rural unemploy-