Parliament Question: Social Security for Informal Sector Workforce

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3931 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18TH AUGUST, 2025 SOCIAL SECURITY FOR INFORMAL SECTOR WORKFORCE 3931. SHRI BHAUSAHEB RAJARAM WAKCHAURE: SHRI BAJRANG MANOHAR SONWANE: SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT: SHRI SANJAY UTTAMRAO DESHMUKH: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a) the details of the percentage of unemployed women and youths in the country; (b) whether a significant percentage of the Indian workforce remains in the informal sector and if so, the reasons therefor; (c) whether the Government has taken cognisance of the said matter and has investigated the same and if so, the details thereof, State- wise; (d) the details of the specific challenges being faced with the current labour policies towards providing social security benefits and legal protection to the said workers; (e) the details of the measures taken by the Government to address the said challenges; (f) the details of the any new approach being adopted by the Government to bring more workers under the protection of formal social security net without putting undue burden of compliance over the small businesses; (g) whether the current labour policies adequately support urgent re- skilling and upgradation of the workforce required to meet the demands of a changing economy including automation and introduction of latest technologies and if so, the details thereof; and (h) the details of the measures being taken by the Government for protection of labour rights and ensuring fair compensation for them while promoting adaptability and flexibility in the labour market? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) 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 youth of age 15-29 years in the country has decreased from 17.8% in 2017-18 to 10.2% in 2023-24 which is lower than the global unemployment rate of youth of 13.3 per cent [As per World Employment and Social Outlook Trends, 2024 published by International Labour Organization (ILO)]. Further, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for women of age 15 years and above has decreased from 5.6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24. (b) & (c): Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) Payroll Data indicates the level of employment in the formal sector. More than 7.54 Crore net subscribers have joined Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) from 2017-18 to 2024-25, indicating an underlining shift towards formal employment. (d) to (h): 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. 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; raising thresholds for factory license, contract labour license, prior permission for retrenchment, lay-off and closure and certification of standing orders. The Code on Social Security 2020 provides for framing of suitable social security measures for gig workers and platform workers on matters relating to life and disability cover, accident insurance, health and maternity benefits, old age protection, etc. The Code also provides for setting up a Social Security Fund to finance the welfare scheme. Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Central Government and the State Governments, as appropriate Government, fix, review and revise the minimum wages of the employees employed in the Scheduled employments under their respective jurisdictions. The provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, have been rationalized and subsumed under the Code on Wages, 2019. The Code makes minimum wages universally applicable across employments and thus moves ahead from restrictive applicability of minimum wages limited to scheduled employments as provided for under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.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). 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. Under this programme so far, 18.56 Lakh+ candidates have signed-up on the Future Skills PRIME Portal, out of which, 3.37 Lakhs+ candidates have completed their course. The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched eShram portal (eshram.gov.in) on 26th August 2021 for creation of a comprehensive National Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) seeded with Aadhaar. eShram portal is meant to register and support the unorganised workers by providing them a Universal Account Number (UAN) on a self- declaration basis. In keeping with the vision of the Budget Announcement on developing eShram as a One-Stop-Solution for unorganized workers to have access to various social security schemes, Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the eShram–“One-Stop-Solution” on 21st October 2024. In addition, the Government has approved Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme named as the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, aiming at job creation and formalisation of work force by providing Social Security through EPFO, enhancing employability and incentivizing additional employment generation through incentives to employees and employers. 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 information on jobs from private and government sectors, information on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, employability enhancement programmes etc. through a digital platform[www.ncs.gov.in]. *****