By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 2 Oct: Secretary Dr R Meenakhsi Sundaram addressed a press conference at the Secretariat Media Centre here, today, and shared some figures to suggest that the state is witnessing rapid economic development at present.
Sundaram shared that the state government had, in 2022, set a target to double the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in the next 5 years. Since then, over the past 20 months, the state’s GSDP has increased 1.3 times. He also shared that the per capita income of the state was Rs 2.05 lakhs during 2021-22 but has risen to Rs 2.60 lakhs during 2023-24. This, he added was an increase by 26 percent in the per capita income of the state during the past two years. He also observed that at the national level, the per capita income has increased by 20 percent in the past two years, rising from Rs 1.50 lakhs to Rs 1.84 lakhs during this period.
Sundaram also quoted figures from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Union Government and mentioned that according to the survey, the labour force participation rate in Uttarakhand in 2022-23 was 43.7 percent in the age group of 15 to 29 years. This, he said has improved to 49 percent during 2023-24. Similarly, the working population ratio of the state has risen from 37.5 percent to 44.2 percent. The labour force participation rate in the age group of 15 to 59 years has risen from 60.1 to 64.4 percent and the working population ratio has increased from 57.2 to 61.2 percent. The labour force participation rate of all people above 15 years of age in the state has increased from 56 to 60.7 percent and the working population ratio has improved from 53.5 to 58.1, he stated.
The Secretary, Planning, further shared that the participation of women in the working population ratio has also improved in the state. In the age group of 15 to 29 years, the participation of women has risen from 26.1 percent to 32.4 percent while in the age group above 15 years, it has increased from 37 percent to 43.7 percent. He claimed that the aggressive promotion of schemes like Lakhpati Didi and schemes aimed at Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) have a significant role behind this increase.
Sundaram stated that the unemployment rate in Uttarakhand was 14.2 percent during 2022-23, but it has significantly come down to 9.8 percent during 2023-24, a decline of 4.4 percent in a year. He claimed that the new policies of the state government and certain crucial amendments in old policies and programmes being conducted to promote employment and self-employment have led to this significant improvement and to the rise in the GSDP. He further claimed that people have got more employment in tourism, in the manufacturing sector and in government jobs in the state.
Director General, Information, Banshidhar Tiwari, and Additional Chief Executive Officer of CPGG, Dr Manoj Pant were present during the press conference.
