The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisor Bibek Debroy on Friday said the Centre will prepare a fresh jobs report that will show that there has been a substantial increase in job creation. His comments came a day after a news report cited data from the National Sample Survey Office and said that unemployment rate in India was at a 45-year-high of 6.1% in 2017-’18.

A large part of what happens in employment depends on state governments, the economist said in a video message shared by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Facebook. “The survey will show that there has been a substantial increase in jobs,” Debroy said. “It is important to realise...the role of the Modi government in jobs.” Admitting that it was partly the Union government’s responsibility, Debroy said a major part of “what happens to business environment, jobs, employment is in the province of states”.

However, the Union government can facilitate enabling an environment where establishments can function and entrepreneurship can flourish, he said. “This is precisely what the Modi government has been doing by pushing self-employment.”

Documents reviewed by the Business Standard have showed that the unemployment rate was at its highest since the 1972-’73 period, from when the employment data is comparable. In comparison, the unemployment rate stood at 2.2% in 2011-’12, during the United Progressive Alliance’s second term, according to the survey.

Two independent members of the National Statistical Commission had resigned earlier this week after the government allegedly failed to publish the report that was prepared last month. The report has still not been made public.

The survey is the first on employment made by a government agency since demonetisation. The Periodic Labour Force Survey is also the first annual household survey of the National Sample Survey Office. Its data was collected between July 2017 and June 2018.