Parliament Question: Status of Employment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 177 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20TH JULY, 2026 STATUS OF EMPLOYMENT 177. SHRI BENNY BEHANAN: SHRI K RADHAKRISHNAN: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that unemployment rate among youth aged 15-29 years has risen in the last two years as per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data; (b) if so, the details thereof, year and State-wise; (c) the reasons for job losses in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and manufacturing sectors despite ‘Make in India’ claims; and (d) the specific measures taken by the Government to reverse this trend and by the time by which results are expected? 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. The latest PLFS report is the first in the series of Annual report conducted during the calendar year (January 2025-December 2025). As per the report, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for youth of age 15-29 years has decreased from 10.3% in 2024 to 9.9% in 2025 in the country. State/UT-wise and year-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 database published by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provides employment estimates, including manufacturing sector, at all India level. As per the latest data of the database, employment in the country increased to 64.33 crore in 2023-24 as compared to 47.5 crore in 2017-18. Total increase in employment during 2017-18 to 2023-24 is about 16.83 crore (provisional) which translate into 2.8 crore employment per year.Also, as per latest Annual PLFS report, the percentage share of workers on usual status in manufacturing sector has increased from 11.2% in 2022 to 12.1% in 2025 in the country. Udyam Registration Portal (URP) was launched on 01.07.2020, The number of registered Enterprises, including IMEs, as of 15.07.2026 is more than 9.0 Crore. Enterprises de-register on the Portal due to a number of reasons such as certificate not required anymore, shutting down, duplicate registration, change in the company owner and other reasons. As per data on Udyam Registration Portal about, 0.17 % MSMEs have been de-registered due to shut down since inception of Udyam Registration 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 implemented across various Ministries/ Departments and State Governments. The Government of India, through the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), implements various schemes for the promotion and development of MSMEs across the country. These schemes/programmes include Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), Micro and Small Enterprises-Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP), Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme (ESDP), Procurement and Marketing Support Scheme (PMSS), Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP), International Cooperation scheme, Tool Rooms, Technology Centre System Programme (TCSP), National SC/ST Hub (NSSH), MSME Champions, PM Vishwakarma etc. Further, Government has taken a number of initiatives to support the MSME Sector across the country. Some of these are the following: • Registration of MSMEs through ''Udyam Registration'' for Ease of Doing Business. • Integration of Udyam Portal and National Career Service (NCS) of Ministry of Labour & Employment, as an outcome registered MSMEs are able to search for jobseekers on NCS.• Launch of Udyam Assist Platform (UAP) to bring the Informal Micro Enterprises (IMEs) under the formal ambit for availing the benefit under Priority Sector Lending (PSL). 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]. *****