Employment Scenario of Lakshadweep: An Overview Dr. Abdul Azeez N.P. Assistant Professor of Economics, Aligarh Muslim University Malappuram Centre abdulazeeznp@gmail.com

1. Dr. Abdul Azeez N.P.
Assistant Professor of Economics,
Aligarh Muslim University Malappuram Centre
abdulazeeznp@gmail.com

2. Like other parts of our country,
generation of employment opportunities
is a challenge in the Union Territory of
Lakshadweep.

3. Sources of Data
• 5th Annual Employment Unemployment Survey 2015-
16 conducted by Labour Bureau.
• The survey has been conducted in all the States/UTs
and covers all the districts.
• The field work was executed from April, 2015 to
December, 2015.

4. States
Number of Household
surveyed
Number of person
surveyed
Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total
Kerala 1776 2879 4655 7994 13289 21283
Lakshadweep 30 240 270 178 1336 1514
India 88783 67780 156563 448254 333539 781793

5. Labour Force Participation Rate
• LFPR shows the proportion of a country’s working-age
population that engages actively in the labour market,
either by working or looking/searching for work.
• It indicates relative size of the supply of labour available
to engage in the production of goods and services.

6. Sector Male Female Transgender Person
Rural 77.3 26.7 51.1 53.0
Urban 69.1 16.2 41.2 43.5
Total 75.0 23.7 48.0 50.3
LFPR at National Level (%)

7. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70 AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
India
LFPR among Major States (%)

8. State/ UTs
Rural Urban Rural +Urban
Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
Kerala 72.2 31.2 50.7 70.4 30.3 49.3 71.4 30.8 50.0
Lakshadweep 34.0 24.5 29.0 62.3 15.7 58.3 58.3 16.9 36.1
Total (India) 77.3 26.7 53.0 69.1 16.2 43.5 75.0 23.7 50.3
LFPR for Lakshadweep and Kerala- (%)

9. Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
WPR signifies the proportion of workers/employed
persons in the total population.

10. States
Rural Urban R+U
M F P M F P M F P
Kerala 69.4 21.6 44.3 67.1 21.5 43.1 68.4 21.6 43.8
Lakshadweep 32.1 23.9 27.8 51.3 13.1 30.7 48.5 14.5 30.3
Total 74.1 24.6 50.4 66.8 14.3 41.4 72.1 21.7 47.8
Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
(Percent)

11. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70 AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
India
WPR among Major States/UTs

12. States
Self
Employed
Wage/ Salary
Earners
Contract
Workers
Casual
Labour
Kerala 27.0 26.0 3.2 43.8
Lakshadweep 31.6 42.1 15.0 11.4
India 46.6 17.0 3.7 32.8
Distribution of Employed Person among
different Categories of Employment (%) (R+ U)

13. AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
India
36.3
81.2
50.147.951.354.7
49.9
42.8
27
53.1
67.5
45.346.9
25.8
54.6
39.1
31.6
15.7
46.6
State wise Distribution of Self Employed Person (%)

14. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45 AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
Delhi
Goa
India
State-wise Distribution of Wage/Salaried Person (%)

15. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35 AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
Chandigarh
Dadra&NagarHaveli
Daman&Diu
India
State-wise Distribution of Contract Workers Person (%)

16. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50 AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
India
State-wise Distribution of Casual Labour (%)

17. Lakshadweep Self
Employed
Wage/ Salary
earners
Contract
workers
Casual
Labour
Total
Male 30.2 37.6 18.0 14.2 100
Female 35.6 55.3 6.0 3.1 100
Rural 13.5 48.4 24.5 13.6 100
Rural - Male 20.4 18.2 38.4 22.8 100
Rural- Female 4.7 86.5 7.1 1.8 100
Urban 34.2 41.2 13.6 11.0 100
Urban - Male 31.1 39.6 15.9 13.4 100
Urban - Female 44.4 46.6 5.7 3.3 100
Distribution of Employed Person among different
Categories of Employment in Lakshadweep
Gender & Sector wise (Percent)

18. Lakshadweep Self
employment
Regular
wage/salaried
Contract
workers
Casual
labour
Persons in labour force 31.5 42.1 15.0 11.4
Up to 5000 28.4 5.2 3.9 13.9
5001-7500 35.6 11.5 9.1 34.0
7501-10000 18.5 11.6 40.2 18.7
10001-20000 11.2 14.4 22.8 12.3
20001-50000 6.3 53.9 22.1 21.1
50001-100000 - 3.4 1.7 -
Above 100000 - - - -
Self employed/ wage/ salaried/ contract/ casual
workers according to Average Monthly
Earnings in Lakshadweep (%)

19. States
No
earners
1
Earner
2
Earners
3
Earners
4 &
above
Kerala 13.2 46.3 30.0 8.1 2.5
Lakshadweep 13.8 51.9 19.0 10.9 4.3
India 5.1 48.4 30.6 10.7 5.2
Percentage Distribution of Households having
Number Earner

20. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
No
earners
one
earner
Two
earners
Three
Earners
4 &
above
Rural 10.2 46.7 7.9 34.4 0.8
Urban 14.2 52.6 20.4 8.1 4.7
Percentage
Percentage Distribution of Households having
Number Earner in Lakshadweep

21. Unemployment Rate
It reflects the portion of the labour force which
was available for work during the given
reference period but did not get work.

22. Sector Male Female Transgender Person
Rural 4.2 7.8 2.1 5.1
Urban 3.3 12.1 10.3 4.9
Total 4.0 7.8 4.3 5.0
Unemployment Rate for different Categories
based on UPS approach (All India- %)

23. AndhraPradesh
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Haryana
Karnataka
Kerala
Maharashtra
Mizoram
Odisha
Punjab
TamilNadu
UttarPradesh
WestBengal
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
India
3.9
8.9
6.1 6
1.9
0.9
4.7
1.5
12.5
2.1
3
5
6
4.2
7.4
4.9
16.1
4.9 5
Unemployment Rate among Major State (%)

24. Unemployment Rate (Percent)
States
Rural Urban
Rural
+
Urban
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Kerala 3.8 30.8 12.5 4.6 29.0 12.6 12.5
Lakshadweep 5.5 2.4 4.1 17.8 16.8 17.5 16.1
Total 4.2 7.8 5.1 5.1 3.3 10.3 5.0

25. Male Female Total
5.5
2.4
4.1
17.8
16.8 16.716.7
14
16.1
Unemployment rate in Lakshadweep (%)
Rural Urban Rural + Urban

26. Proportion Unemployed (PU)
It is the proportion of unemployed persons in
the total population, whereas unemployment
rate is defined as a proportion of unemployed
persons in the labour force.

27. Sex Rural Urban R+U
Male 3.2 2.3 3.0
Female 2.1 2.0 2.1
Transgender 1.1 2.0 2.1
Total Persons 2.7 2.1 2.5
Proportion Unemployed based on UPS (%)-
National Level

28. 2.2
2.5
2.1 2.2
0.8
0.3
1.5
0.8
5.3
0.8
1.1
2
2.5
2.2
2.7
1.9
1.6
2.6
6.9
6
1.9
Proportion Unemployed among Major States
(%)

29. Under-Employment
The persons who were available for 12 months
during the reference period are categorized
into following four groups;
• Worked for 12 months or fully employed
• Worked for 6-11 months (partially employed)
• Worked for 1-5 months (partially employed)
• Did not get any work and remained
unemployed throughout the year.

30. Percentage distribution of persons
available for 12 months
States Sector
Worked 12
month
6-11
months
1-5 months
Did not get
any work
Kerala
Rural 58.9 29.5 1.5 10.1
Urban 68.8 19 1.4 10.8
R+ U 63.4 24.7 1.5 10.4
Lakshadweep
Rural 96.5 3.5 - -
Urban 68.9 14.4 12.4 4.3
R+ U 72 13.2 11 3.8
India
Rural 52.7 42.1 1.4 3.8
Urban 82.1 13.2 0.4 4.3
R+ U 60.6 34.4 1.1 3.9

31. Percentage distribution of persons in
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep Worked 12
months
Worked 6-11
months
Worked 1 to 5
months
Did not get any
work
Male 69.1 15.1 13.6 2.3
Female 81 7.3 3 8.7
Rural- Male 93.7 6.3 - -
Rural- Female 100 - - -
Urban- Male 66.9 15.8 14.8 2.5
Urban- female 76 9.2 3.8 11

32. Reasons
Graduate Post Graduate
Rural Urban R+U Rural Urban R+U
Non-availability of
jobs matching with
education/skill/experience
55.9 64.0 58.3 58.5 68.7 62.4
Non-availability of
adequate remuneration 25.1 17.5 22.8 24.8 16.0 21.5
Family/ personal problems 5.5 5.0 5.3 3.7 4.0 3.8
Other 13.5 13.5 13.5 13.0 11.3 12.4
Unemployed person having graduate/Post graduate level
by reasons of unemployment at national level

33. States Unemployed
persons having
graduate
level
qualification
Unemployed persons having graduate level
qualification by reasons of unemployment
Non-availability of
jobs matching with
education/skill/experience
Non-
availability
of adequate
remuneration
Family/
personal
problems
Other
Kerala 18.5 71.8 15.2 7.7 5.4
Lakshadweep 22.3 30.7 - - 69.3
India 10.0 58.3 22.8 5.3 13.5
States Unemployed
persons having
post-graduate
level
qualification
Unemployed persons having post-graduate level
qualification by reasons of unemployment
Non-availability of
jobs matching with
education/skill/experience
Non-
availability
of adequate
Remuneration
Family/
personal
problem
s
Other
Kerala 14.5 81.4 13.1 2.9 2.6
Lakshadweep 24.5 15.4 - - 84.6
India 9.8 62.4 21.5 3.8 12.4

34. Methods adopted Lakshadweep Kerala India
Through employment exchange 2.1 6.3 4.3
Application made in response to
advertisement
3.7 20.6 23.7
Application made directly 12.7 4.8 2.7
Through friends/relatives 4.2 22.1 24.1
Through placement agencies/contractors 56.5 1.0 1.4
Employment exchange & advertisement 15.1 8.8 4.2
Friend/ Relative & Agencies/ Contractors - 1.9 2.3
More than two methods 5.7 29.9 33.5
Others - 4.6 3.8
Unemployed Persons by Methods
Adopted to Seek Work

35. Recommendations
• A comprehensive policy for development of
fisheries, tourism and establishment of eco-friendly
industries may be evolved for a systematic
development of these sectors;
• Promote SSIs through SHGs;
• Vocational type of education system should be
introduced;
• Promote self employment opportunities; and
• Migration to mainland.