Parliament Question: Action plan to tackle Unemployment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3830 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16TH MARCH, 2026 ACTION PLAN TO TACKLE UNEMPLOYMENT

3830. SHRI RAJA A :

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has estimated the number of jobs to be generated annually to tackle unemployment of youths in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of the number of jobs created in various sectors in the country during the last three years and the current year, year-wise; and

(d) the details of the action plans formulated by the Government for addressing the unemployment situation in the country as some experts estimated that the country need more than 1.2 crore jobs annually? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

(a) to (d): The official data on Employment and Unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18.

As per the latest available Annual PLFS reports, the estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR) indicating employment on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above in the country were 52.9% in 2021-22, 56.0% in 2022-23 and 58.2% in 2023-24.

Further, the KLEMS (K: Capital, L: Labour, E: Energy, M: Materials and S:

Services) database published by Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) covers 27 industries comprising of the entire Indian economy and provides employment estimates across 27 industries. As per the latest data, total estimated employment in the country has increased to 64.33 crores (Provisional) during 2023-24 as compared to 47.15 crores during 2014-15, which indicates a growth of 36.44% during the period.

Employment generation coupled with improving employability is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is implementing various employment generation schemes across the country. The details of various employment generation schemes/programmes being implemented by the

Government may be seen at https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes.Government is implementing Skill India Mission (SIM) to deliver skill, re- skill and up-skill training through an extensive network of skill development centres/ schools/ colleges /institutes etc. under various schemes, viz. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Craftsmen Training Scheme

(CTS) through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country. The SIM aims at enabling youth of India to get future ready, equipped with industry relevant skills.

Reskilling and upskilling initiatives are being undertaken through multiple national programmes that support workforce transition, redeployment, and preparedness for emerging job roles. These programmes focus on structured skilling, digital literacy, and advanced technology training to ensure employability in the AI-driven economy.

Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, is running the National Career Service (NCS) Portal which is a one-stop solution for providing career related services including information on jobs from private and government sectors, online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through a digital platform [www.ncs.gov.in].

As a part of legislative reforms, the existing 29 Acts in the central sphere have been subsumed in the four Codes viz, the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020. The Codes have been enforced with effect from 21 November, 2025. These Codes aim to catalyze creation of employment opportunities while ensuring safety, health and social security of every worker by promoting ease of doing business through simplification, rationalization and reduction in compliance burden.

In addition, the Government is implementing Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme named as the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana to support employment generation, enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with special focus on the manufacturing sector.

The scheme with an outlay of Rs 99,446 Crore aims to incentivize the creation of more than 3.5 Crore jobs in the country, over a period of 2 years. *****