Parliament Question: Employability of Indian Graduates

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 350 ANSWERED ON 18.08.2025 Employability of Indian Graduates *350. Shri Gaurav Gogoi: Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that only 42.6 per cent of Indian graduates are employable as per Graduate Skill Index 2025; (b) the steps taken by the Government to address the low employability rate despite various skill development initiatives; (c) whether the Government proposes any measures to improve non-technical skills for recent graduates, if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government is planning to increase employability in emerging sectors such as AI, cyber security and renewable energy; and (e) if so, the details thereof along with timeline or roadmap to improve employability rates including the key focus areas in the next five years? ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN) (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House. ******STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (e) of LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 350 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.08.2025 ASKED BY HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT SHRI GAURAV GOGOI REGARDING EMPLOYABILITY OF INDIAN GRADUATES. (a) to (e): 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 Unemployment Rate (UR), on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above has decreased from 6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24. The details are available in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) reports, which may be seen at: https://www.mospi.gov.in/download-reports?main_cat=ODU5&cat=All&sub_category=All Government of India launched National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 with an aim for holistic development of students. NEP aims to transform and enhance the quality of education across the country with an objective to establish an education system that is inclusive, equitable, and of high quality, empowering learners to meet future challenges and contribute to national development. NEP lays emphasis on integrating skill development with mainstream education by embedding vocational and practical skills across school and higher education, removing hard separations between vocational and academic streams. To enhance employability of the students and achieve the objectives of NEP 2020, University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued the National Credit Framework (NCrF), enabling integration of Skill Education into academia. It also enables credit accumulation through diversified domains such as Skill Enhancement Courses, Value Addition Courses, Ability Enhancement Courses alongwith Internships and Projects. The NCrF also has a provision for the accumulation of a maximum of 50% of the total credit required through skill-based courses. These provisions have enabled Higher Educational Institutions to provide relevant knowledge to the students, making them industry ready. Further, UGC has formulated guidelines for the introduction of Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programmes to be offered by Higher Education Institutions to provide practical exposure during the course of study expected with the aim to enhanced competencies of the graduates and the employment thereof. UGC also introduced “Guidelines for Internship/Research Internship for Under Graduate Students” in February 2024, with an aim to improve employability and develop interest for research.To achieve the objectives of NEP 2020 and ensure availability of industry relevant knowledge to students of technical students, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has taken several steps including:  Model Curriculum in areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Space Technology, Electronic Engineering (VLSI Design and Technology), Robotics and Artificial Intelligence etc. Due representation of Industry stakeholders is ensured in the curriculum revision committees.  Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with leading industries and organisations have been signed to facilitate internship, skilling and upskilling of students and faculty members.  Issued model internship guidelines for technical courses. Internship is mandatory component of Model Curriculum issued by AICTE for different courses. These guidelines provide internship in full-time or part-time.  Industry Academia Mobility framework launched by AICTE to facilitate connect between theoretical knowledge and practical application, facilitating collaboration between academia and industry.  In order to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, over 16,000 Institution Innovation Councils (IICs) have been established across the country, engaging more than 1 lakh faculty members and 1.5 lakh students in innovation and entrepreneurial activities.  AICTE’s KAPILA initiative (Kalam Program for IP Literacy and Awareness) provide’s financial assistance and generates awareness among HEIs to encourage patent filing. KAPILA Funded more than 10,000 Patents. The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with IIT Madras and eminent Industry Partners, have launched the SWAYAM Plus platform on 27th February 2024. The platform offers high-quality learning and certification programs in partnership with leading industry and academic experts to students/ learners, helping them reskill, upskill, and become employment-ready. These courses also include domains such as media, communication, and soft skills, aimed at enhancing non- technical competencies to improve employability. The Ministry of Education and IIT Madras have signed more than 65 MoUs with the leading industry partners. As of 25th July 2025, more than 400 Courses in 16 different sectors are available on the platform, and more than 3 lakh learners have enrolled for their Skill augmentation. The Ministry of Education also implements the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) to impart on-the-job training and enhance the employability of youth. In the last 5 financial years, i.e. from FY 2020-21 to 2024-25, the NATS scheme has engaged 12.94 lakh apprentices. For FY 2024-25, over 5.23 lakh apprentices have been engaged. The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, operates 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] ***