Executive Summary:
This document provides details on the measures taken by the Government of India to increase the employment rate. It references data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and outlines various employment generation schemes and programs, including those focused on emerging sectors. The information provided is current as of June 30, 2025, with wage rate revisions for FY 2024-25 effective from April 1, 2024.
Key Points / Main Content:
Employment Statistics and Trends:
* The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for individuals aged 15 years and above has increased from 46.8 in 2017-18 to 58.2 in 2023-24, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS):
* MGNREGS is a demand-driven wage employment program guaranteeing at least 100 days of wage employment to rural households willing to do unskilled manual work.
* The Ministry of Rural Development revises the MGNREGS wage rate annually based on the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPIAL), effective from April 1st each year.
* The overall increase in the notified wage rate for FY 2024-25 compared to FY 2023-24 is approximately 7%.
Employment Generation Schemes and Programs:
* The government is implementing various employment generation schemes, including PMEGP, MGNREGS, DAY-NRLM, DDUGKY, RSETIs, DAY-NULM, PM SVANidhi, and PMMY.
* Details of these schemes are available at https:dge.gov.indgeschemesprogrammes.
Skill Development and Training:
* The Skill India Mission (SIM) delivers skill, reskill, and upskill training through centers and institutes under schemes like PMKVY, JSS, NAPS, and CTS through ITIs.
* The National Career Service (NCS) Portal (www.ncs.gov.in) provides career-related services, including job postings, job fairs, career counseling, and information on skill development courses.
* As of June 30, 2025, over 6.2 crore vacancies have been mobilized on the NCS Portal.
Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiatives:
* The 'Make in India' initiative, launched on September 25, 2014, promotes domestic manufacturing, innovation, and investment.
* Make in India 2.0 focuses on 27 sectors, including green energy, the digital economy, and manufacturing.
* The government has implemented the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across 14 sectors, including green energy, digital economy and manufacturing and the National Infrastructure Pipeline of projects to drive economic growth.
* The Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme supports employment generation, enhances employability, and promotes social security, especially in the manufacturing sector.
Impact Analysis:
Workers:
* Impact: Workers benefit from increased employment opportunities through various government schemes and initiatives, enhanced skills through training programs, and wage revisions in MGNREGS.
* Action Required: Utilize available resources such as the NCS portal and skill development programs to find suitable employment and improve employability.
Employers:
* Impact: Employers benefit from a skilled workforce through government-supported training programs and incentives to promote employment generation.
* Action Required: Engage with government schemes like PLI and ELI to leverage incentives for expanding operations and creating employment opportunities.
Government Agencies:
* Impact: Government agencies are responsible for implementing and monitoring employment generation schemes, skill development programs, and initiatives like Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
* Action Required: Ensure effective implementation of schemes, monitor progress through data from sources like PLFS, and make necessary adjustments to policies and programs to achieve employment goals.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Labour and Employment: The Indian government ministry responsible for labour and employment policies.
MGNREGA: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, an Indian labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the 'right to work'.
Make in India: An initiative by the Indian government to encourage companies to manufacture their products in India.
Atmanirbhar Bharat: A vision of the Indian government for making India a self-reliant nation.
Skill India Mission: An initiative by the Indian government to train over 400 million people in different skills by 2022.
National Career Service NCS Portal: A one-stop solution for providing career-related services including jobs from private and government sectors.
Periodic Labour Force Survey PLFS: The official data source on Employment and Unemployment conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation MoSPI since 2017-18
Ministry of Rural Development: The Ministry that revises the wage rate every financial year, based on change in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour CPIAL for MGNREGA scheme.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1292
TO BE ANSWERED ON 28th JULY, 2025
MEASURES TO INCREASE EMPLOYMENT RATE
1292. SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE:
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:
(a) the updated details of the current employment rate and its trend in
recent years in the country;
(b) the details of the concrete steps being taken by the Government
for employment generation both in urban and rural areas
particularly for youth;
(c) the manner in which Government proposes to reform MGNREGA to
provide employment security and livelihood assistance;
(d) whether the Government proposes to expand the scope of
MGNREGA to include skill based employment along with unskilled
labourers; and
(e) the details of the measures taken by the Government to promote
employment generation in emerging sectors like green Energy,
digital economy and manufacturing under the initiatives like Make
in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)
(a) to (e): The official data source on Employment and Unemployment is
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 has increased from 46.8% in 2017-
18 to 58.2% in 2023-24.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) is a demand driven wage employment
programme which provides enhancement of livelihood security of the
households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one
hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to
every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual
work. It provides livelihood security i.e., fall back option for livelihood forthe rural households when no better employment opportunity is
available. To compensate workers against inflation, the Ministry of
Rural Development revises the wage rate every financial year, based on
change in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPI-AL). The
wage rate is made applicable from 1st April of each financial year. The
overall % increase in notified wage rate for FY 2024-25 from the FY
2023-24 is about 7 %.
Employment generation coupled with improving employability of
the youth is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is
implementing various employment generation schemes/ programmes.
These inter-alia include Prime Minister’s Employment Generation
Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National
Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment and Training
Institutes (RSETIs), Deen Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban
Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi
(PM SVANidhi), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), etc. The details of
various employment generation schemes/programmes being
implemented by the Government may be seen at
https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes.
Under the Government of India’s Skill India Mission (SIM), the
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) delivers skill,
re-skill and up-skill training through an extensive network of skill
development centres/ institutes etc. under various schemes, viz.
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan
(JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Craftsman
Training Scheme (CTS) through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)
across the country including youth, in both urban and rural areas. The
SIM aims at enabling youth of India to get future ready, equipped with
industry relevant skills.
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]. As on 30.06.2025, more than 6.2 crore
vacancies have been mobilised on NCS Portal.‘Make in India' Initiative was launched on 25th September, 2014 to
facilitate Investment, foster Innovation, build best in class
Infrastructure, and make India a hub for manufacturing, design, and
innovation. It is one of the unique 'Vocal for Local' initiatives that
promoted India's manufacturing domain to the world. Investment
outreach is being done through Ministries, State Governments and Indian
Missions abroad for enhancing international co-operation for promoting
Domestic and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country. Presently,
Make in India 2.0 focuses on 27 sectors including green energy, digital
economy and manufacturing, implemented across various Ministries/
Departments and State Governments
To give a boost to growth, the Government has taken a series of
measures including the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to 14
sectors (including green energy, digital economy and manufacturing),
the launch of PM Gatishakti scheme to reduce infrastructure gap and
facilitate private investment, the extension of Emergency Credit Line
Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to provide support to MSMEs, among others.
As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission, Government has also
implemented the National Infrastructure Pipeline of projects, to drive
economic growth in the years ahead. The government has recapitalised
banks, merged them and strengthened their balance sheets so that bank
lending can grow faster, once current global uncertainties fade.
In addition, the Union Cabinet has approved the Employment
Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme to support employment generation,
enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with
special focus on the manufacturing sector.
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