Parliament Question: Status of Employment in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4893 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23RD MARCH, 2026 STATUS OF EMPLOYMENT IN BIHAR 4893. DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a) the details of current unemployment rate in Bihar, district-wise including Gopalganj; (b) the details of measures taken by the Government to reduce unemployment in rural and urban areas in the said State; (c) the details of programmes targeting youth and women employment in the said State; (d) the details of Initiatives taken for skill development to enhance employability in the said State; and (e) the details of monitoring mechanisms to assess the impact of employment schemes in the said State? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (e): 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 has decreased from 7.0% in 2017-18 to 3.0% in 2023-24 in the State of Bihar (including Gopalganj). Also, the estimated UR on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above has decreased from 6.8% in 2017-18 to 2.6% in 2023-24 in the rural areas and 9.0% to 7.3% in urban areas during the same period in the State of Bihar. 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 . Employment generation coupled with improving employability of youth and women is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is implementing various employment generation schemes/ programmes in the country (including rural and urban areas of Bihar). 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 (including Bihar). The SIM aims at enabling youth of India to get future ready, equipped with industry relevant skills. To enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training Institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. 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. 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. The Codes have been enforced with effect from 21 November, 2025. 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 etc. These Labour codes have various provisions to promote female labour force participation in the country (including Bihar). Government has also adopted a multi-pronged approach on a life-cycle continuum basis to address the issue of educational, social, economic and political empowerment of women. As a result, India is witnessing a rapid transition from women’s-development to women led development with the vision of a new India where women are leading the way for fast paced and sustainable national development. 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]. *****