India lost 50 lakh jobs since demonetisation: Report

New Delhi : Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced note ban in India, almost 50 lakh people lost their jobs, said a report. However, no casual link has been found between the demonetisation and job loss, said the "State of Working India 2019", released Tuesday by the Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.

As compared to men, the women lost jobs more in a period of last two years.

"Whether or not this decline was caused by demonetisation, it is definitely a cause for concern and calls for urgent policy intervention," the report says.

Over the time frame, major loss of jobs is seen among the people who are less educated. The sharp decline in job opportunities clearly suggests why opposition is pushing hard on the matter during the election.

A government report leaked earlier this year had said the country's unemployment rate rose to a 45-year high in 2017-18.

The National Sample Survey Office's Periodic Labour Force Survey, conducted between July 2017-June 2018, showed the unemployment rate at 6.1 percent, the highest since 1972-73.

However, the report was withheld by the government but a newspaper published it. Facing criticism, the NITI Ayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar claimed that the report in not verified.