India needs payroll data system to map job creation: Assocham

New Delhi, June : India needs to develop a credible system for mapping job creation, at least in the formal sector, to enable government policies to be oriented accordingly, industry chamber Assocham said on Sunday.

Citing the example of inflation data, industrial output and other economic numbers released every month, the industry chamber said that a similar system should be created for the regular release of payroll data.

“Like we release inflation data, industrial output numbers and several other high frequency data every month, we must create a system sooner than later so that the payroll numbers are released month on month,” an Assocham statement said here.

“If a large part of the economy is getting formalised, the mapping of job creation should not be difficult,” Assocham Secretary General D.S. Rawat said.

“We do not need traditional sample surveys. Since the wages are all paid through banking channels, we can just capture the salary data from the banks, collate it and compare it.”

“The monthly data can make it clear that it is about the fresh jobs in the formal sector. With measures like the Goods and Services Tax by which a larger part of the economy gets captured into formalisation, we would go on improving on the job data base,” he added.

Payroll data is crucial for any mature economy for anchoring policies with regard to interest rates, welfare measures, investment incentives and taxation, Assocham said.

National economic policies must be data driven, rather than anecdotal pieces of information collected from here and there, it added. (IANS)