Parliament Question: Lack of Employment Opportunities

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4887 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23RD MARCH, 2026 LACK OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES 4887. SHRI RAKESH RATHOR: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that there has been a significant increase in the number of registered unemployed in the country during the last three years and the current year; (b) if so, the details thereof, year and State/UT-wise and the reasons therefor; (c) whether the Government has conducted any survey, study or assessment regarding the decline in employment opportunities in various sectors during the said period; and (d) if so, the key findings of such survey/study and the steps taken by the Government to boost employment generation during the said period? 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 Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18. As per the latest Annual PLFS reports, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above in the country was 4.2% in 2020-21, 4.1% in 2021-22 and 3.2% in 2022-23 and 2023-24 and the estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR) indicating employment on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above was 52.6%, 52.9%, 56.0% and 58.2% during the same period. State/UT-wise information is available in the PLFS reports which may be seen at the website of MoSPI at https://www.mospi.gov.in/publications- reports.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/ 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. 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. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has initiated ‘FutureSkills PRIME’ a programme for Re-skilling/Up-skilling of IT Manpower for Employability in 10 new/emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence. 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. 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]. *****