Parliament Question: Comprehensive Assessment of the Actual Employment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3666 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10TH AUGUST, 2026 COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE ACTUAL EMPLOYMENT 3666. THIRU DAYANIDHI MARAN: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has conducted any comprehensive assessment of the actual employment generated since 2014 under its flagship initiatives and if so, the details thereof, scheme and year-wise; (b) the details of the verifiable net jobs created since 2014, distinguishing between permanent, contractual, casual, self-employment and gig/platform employment, together with the methodology adopted by the Government to verify that such employment is genuine, sustained and non-duplicative; (c) whether the Government has assessed the gap between its employment generation commitments made since 2014 and the actual employment outcomes and if so, the details thereof including annual targets, achievements and reasons for any shortfall; and (d) the details of total number of first-time entrants into the workforce, the total number of new EPFO, ESIC and NPS subscribers and the number independently verified as representing new employment rather than formalisation of existing workers since 2014, year-wise? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (d): Official estimates of employment and unemployment in India are derived from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation since 2017–18.As per the latest available Annual PLFS reports, the estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above in the country is as follows: Year WPR (in %) UR (in %) 2017-18 46.8 6.0 2018-19 47.3 5.8 2019-20 50.9 4.8 2020-21 52.6 4.2 2021-22 52.9 4.1 2022-23 56.0 3.2 2023-24 58.2 3.2 Source: PLFS, MoSPI The above data indicates that the WPR indicating employment has increasing trend and Unemployment Rate has a decreasing trend over the years. Further, as per the PLFS reports, the percentage distribution of workers in usual status for self-employed has increased from 52.2% in 2017 to 58.4% in 2023-24. Employment generation coupled with improving employability is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is implementing various employment generation schemes/ programmes in 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 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. The Ministry of MSME launched Udyam Registration Portal on 01.07.2020 for formalizing enterprises, expanding access to government support and strengthening the MSME ecosystem. A total of 8.9 crore Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been registered on UdyamRegistration Portal, including Udyam Assist Platform (UAP), providing employment to over 39 crore people across the country. Further, more than 8.23 crore net subscribers have joined Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) between September 2017 and July 2025 indicating increase in employment and formalization of the job market. Also, more than 1.29 crore net subscribers have joined EPFO during the year 2024-25. The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has launched the Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers/Employees (SPREE 2025) from July 2025 to January 2026. Under the Scheme, a one-time opportunity was provided to employers and employees of organised sectors who may have been inadvertently left out from ESI coverage to register without concern for retrospective coverage or punitive action. A total of 1,38,718 new employers and 1,12,72,772 employees have been added during the Scheme till 31.01.2026. The number of subscribers under the National Pension System (NPS) has increased from 8.75 lakh in March, 2015 to 1.99 crore in March, 2025. The Rozgar Mela is a major initiative aimed at prioritising employment generation. Since its inception, more than 12.5 lakh recruitment letters have been issued through 19 Rozgar Melas organised across the country. Government is also 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. Also, the Government is implementing 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. The PMVBRY is a demand-driven scheme. Since the implementation of the scheme, an incentive amount of ₹744.58 crorehas been disbursed to 13.18 lakh first-time employees under Part A, while ₹2,068.84 crore has been disbursed to 67,369 beneficiary establishments under Part B of the scheme, up to June 2026, across the country. Further, 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 jobs from private and government sectors, information on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through a digital platform [www.ncs.gov.in]. *****