A survey conducted by the government has revealed that joblessness is highest among Christians, while it is least among Hindus and Sikhs both in rural and urban areas.
The unemployment rate of Christians stands at 5.9 percent in cities and towns, and 4.5 percent in villages in 2011-2012, according to the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Christians are followed by Muslims whose unemployment rate is of 2.6% in urban areas and 3.9% in rural areas. Overall, Hindus are best employed with unemployment rate of 3.3 in urban areas and 1.6 percent in rural areas.
NSSO is an organization under the Ministry of Statistics of the Government of India. It is the largest organisation in India conducting regular socio-economic surveys.
The survey found that unemployment rate increased in villages all religious communities, with 1.6 percent in 2004-2005 to 1.7 percent in 2011-2012.
However, the some argue that the high unemployment rate among Christians is a reflection of the higher level of education among them who are in job market. The survey also revealed that Christians have the highest percentate of graduates in the country.
Unemployment rates were lowest for Sikhs in villages with 1.3 percent and Hindus in urban areas with 3.3 percent.
The survey also revealed that self-employment among males was the highest for Christians with 56.6 percent and among females Sikhs lead the pack with 79 percent.
The survey was spread over 7,469 villages and 5,268 urban blocks, covering 1,01,724 households - 59,700 in rural areas and 42,024 in urbal areas. It enumerated 2,80,763 person in rural areas and 1,76,236 persons in urban areas, accounting 4,56,999 persons in total.
