New Delhi: Metropolitan cities in the country are soon going to have dedicated databases, pertaining to their labour market conditions and the status of informal enterprises operating there, in a bid to promote evidence-based policymaking and planning as the country continues to experience rapid urbanisation. The initiative by India’s official statistical machinery looks to fill the data gaps in these emerging growth engines, as traditionally it has only produced estimates at the national and state/UT levels.“While certain sub-state estimates are generated, there is no systematic mechanism for regular dissemination of statistics at the city level, particularly with respect to labour market indicators and enterprise characteristics of the unincorporated sector,” statistics ministry said in a statement.The proposed reports will cover 47 million-plus cities identified as per the Population Census 2011. Maharashtra has the highest number of such cities at 10, followed by Uttar Pradesh (7), Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (4 each).
