Christians have highest unemployment rate, says Minority Affairs Minister

The minority Christian community in India, despite having a low illiteracy rate, suffers from a high unemployment rate and are under–represented among the self–employed and over–represented among wage labourers, Minister for Minority Affairs A.R. Antulay has warned.

The unemployment rate among Christians was higher than among Hindus and Muslims, he said, May 3.

The figures on unemployment among Christians are given in the Report No. 521 of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 61st round, and the details are available on the web site of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Antulay said replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

Asked whether Government have any plan to offer special measures to generate employment among the tribal Christians in the States of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the minister said the new 15–Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities envisaged earmarking of 15 percent of outlay for minorities, including tribal Christians.

He said three schemes were directly related to employment generation, i.e. Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY), Swarn Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) and Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY).

Under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), a total of 80 districts covered are in these six States, he said.

The government survey has indicated that in rural areas, the unemployment rates were higher among the Christians (4.4 percent) as compared to those among the Hindus (1.5 percent) or Muslims (2.3 percent). In the urban areas also the same pattern was observed.

According to the survey on employment and unemployment situation among major religious groups in India for 2004–05, Christians also had the lowest illiteracy rate for both rural (20 percent for men and 31 percent women) and urban areas (6 percent for men and 11 percent for women).

The survey covered 7,999 villages and 1,24,680 sample households. Except for rural women, the proportion of literates among the Hindus was higher as compared to Muslims.

The worker population ratio (WPR or the proportion of people employed) among men in rural area was highest among Christians (56 percent), followed by Hindus (55 percent) and Muslims (50 percent). For women, the ratio was 36 percent for Christians, 34 percent for Hindus and 18 percent for Muslims.

The WPR among men in urban areas was the highest for Hindus at 56 percent followed by Muslims (53 percent) and Christians (51 percent). In case of women, the WPR was the highest for Christians at 24 percent, followed by Hindus (17 percent) and Muslims (12 percent).

The survey also showed that nearly 49 percent of Muslim households in urban areas were self–employed as against 36 percent for Hindu households and 27 percent for Christians.

"This survey shows that Christian Dalits are marginalized even among Dalits and face more obstacles that the other [groups]. Unemployment separates the haves from the have–nots. The data shows that [job] reservations should be guaranteed to Christian Dalits since their job opportunities are fewer," Bishop Charles Soreng, bishop of Hazaribag (Jharkhand) and chairman of the Commission for Scheduled Caste sand Scheduled Tribes of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) said.

According to John Dayal, president of the All Indian Catholic Union (AICU), the study confirmed the state of widespread poverty in which Indian Christians find themselves since 90 percent are Dalits and tribals. "Most of them work in the service sector which has the lowest proportion of self–employment," Italy–based AsiaNews quoted the Catholic leader as saying.

"Christians," he added, "should benefit from reservations set aside by the states for the more disadvantaged and poor. And the Church should ask the Supreme Court to be more sensitive to the needs of the poor and those who have nothing."

Dr. Abraham Mathai, vice–chairman of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission has urged the Indian Government to pay heed to the alarming survey of the NSSO which in its latest finding has revealed that Christians, though having a lower illiteracy rate, have a high unemployment rate both in rural as well as urban areas.

"This is certainly a genuine cause for concern. For example, the survey has revealed that the unemployment rate in rural India was 4.4 percent among Christians and 2.3 percent among Muslims, compared to 1.5 percent among Hindus. What is revealing is that despite a higher literacy rate among the Christian community, the opportunities available for employment seem to be fewer," he said. "Poverty and limited resources for existence seem to be a reality quite in contrast to the rosy picture of financial prosperity by way of foreign funds that the Sangh Parivar attempts to paint every time this minority community seeks succor for its underprivileged."

"For the Government of India, its own NSSO report has come as an eye opener. Including the Christian minority in the ambit of its development budget outlays should now be a high priority. Majority of the Christian population, contrary to popular perception, lives in rural India and very often in abject poverty," he added.

"Should they be discriminated against on account of their faith? Shouldn't they be equally eligible to opportunities to raise their standard of living, for improving their lot? Or does that responsibility rest solely on the shoulders of its own community members?" he asked.

"What is a well documented fact is the contribution of the Indian Christian community in nation building thru the fields of education and social upliftment. The fruits of which are available to every one irrespective of caste, creed or religion," he said, adding, "For a community that has given selflessly, is it too much to look to the Government for help when it's own across the land are struggling in vain to stay afloat?"