According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) data, West Bengal lost 3 million jobs in unincorporated enterprises during the seven years from 2015-16 to 2022-23, topping the chart among the worst-performing states.
Maharashtra added 2.4 million workers in the same timeframe, said the NSO’s latest Annual Survey on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) report for 2021-22 and 2022-23.
An analysis with the National Sample Survey’s 73rd round on unincorporated enterprises for 2015-16 showed that as many as 13 of 28 states and three Union Territories (UTs) saw a decline in the number of workers in the informal sector of the economy between 2015-16 and 2022-23.
Apart from West Bengal, Karnataka (1.3 million), Tamil Nadu (1.2 million), Uttar Pradesh (791,000), Andhra Pradesh (677,000), Kerala (640,000), Assam (494,000), and Telangana (344,000) also lost jobs during the seven-year period.
On the upside, apart from Maharashtra, Gujarat (762,000), Odisha (761,000), and Rajasthan (756,000) saw an increase in the number of employed workers in the informal sector.
The data said that among the UTs, the number of workers in unincorporated enterprises in Delhi declined by nearly 300,000 to 1.99 million from 2.3 million during the same period, followed by Chandigarh (51,000) and Puducherry (32,000). Comparable data for UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are not available.
Unincorporated sector entails a large number of establishments and the magnitude of employment it provides to unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled persons, besides its contribution to the gross domestic product of the country.
It typically includes small businesses, vendors, hawkers, sole proprietorships, partnerships, and other businesses that are not incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956, or the Companies Act, 2013.