Lok Sabha Question No. 190 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-21
Subject: Special Initiatives and Budgetary Support for Employment of SC, ST, OBC and Minorities
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Adv. Chandra Shekhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 190 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.07.2025

## SPECIAL INITIATIVES AND BUDGETARY SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYMENT OF SC, ST, OBC AND MINORITIES

## 190. ADV. CHANDRA SHEKHAR:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)the details of the schemes and budgetary allocations in Financial Year 2025-26 dedicated improving employment, skill and entrepreneurship opportunities for Scheduled Castes (SCs) Scheduled  Tribes  (STs)  Other  Backword  Classes  (OBCs)  and Minority Communities along with the targets, monitoring mechanisms and outcomes expected from these initiatives including  the  recently  announced  Prime  Minister's  package  for youth employment;
- (b)the details of the semi-skilled and unskilled persons from the said communities have registered with employment exchanges in rural
- and urban areas during the last three years and the current year;
- (c)the  details  of  the  secured  employment  and  initiatives  exist  to enhance placement rates for the said communities;
- (d)the  details  of  the  percentage  of  the  said  beneficiaries  provided employment under key schemes of the Government from 2021-22
- to 2024-25; and
- (e)the details of percentage generated and placements achieved for each  group  and  outline  steps  taken  to  improve  outreach  and effectiveness for these communities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

(a) to (e): The budgetary allocations under the different schemes of Ministry of Labour & Employment inter-alia including the allocation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Minority Communities during the financial year 2025-26 is given at Annexure.

Further, Ministry of Labour and Employment is implementing the 'Welfare of SC/ST Jobseekers Scheme' through a network of 25 National Career Service Centres for SC/ST. The objective  of  the  scheme  is  to  enhance  the  employability  of  SC/ST jobseekers through vocational guidance, career counselling, computer training, pre-recruitment training etc. For the year 2025-26, Rs.  20.61  Crore  has  been  allocated  under  the  scheme.  Regular meetings  are  conducted  with  all  the  implementing  agencies  for monitoring these schemes.

The  Number  of  SC,  ST  and  OBC  Jobseekers (including semi-skilled & unskilled) registered with Employment Exchange (in thousand) are as below:

| Calendar Year      |      SC |     ST |     OBC |
|--------------------|---------|--------|---------|
| 2021               |  361.89 | 166.53 |  646.04 |
| 2022               |  709.9  | 242.3  |  967    |
| 2023 (Provisional) | 1072    | 480.4  | 1780    |

Employment generation coupled with improving employability  of  all  the  sections  of  the  society  is  a  priority  of  the Government.

To  foster  youth  employment  in  particular,  the  Union Government has recently 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. Under the Scheme, while the firsttime employees can get one month's wage (up to Rs. 15,000/ -), the employers can get incentives for a period of two years for generating additional employment, with extended benefits for another two years for the manufacturing sector.

The  ELI  Scheme  was  announced  in  the  Union  Budget 202425  as  part  of  PM's  package  of  fi ve  schemes  to  facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 Crore youth with a total budget outlay of Rs. 2 Lakh Crore. With an outlay of Rs 99,446 Crore, the ELI Scheme aims to incentivize the creation of more than 3.5 Crore jobs (with 1.92 crore jobs for first timers) in the country, over a period of 2 years. With ELI Scheme, the government intends to catalyze  job  creation  in  all  sectors,  particularly  in  manufacturing sector.

The Ministry of  Minority  Affairs  (MoMA)  is  implementing various skilling and education schemes for Socio-economic development of minorities to make them employment ready. Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) is a flagship Scheme of MoMA,  which  converges  five  erstwhile  schemes  and  focuses  on upliftment of minorities through Skill development: entrepreneurship and leadership of minority women; and education support for school dropouts. A budgetary allocation of Rs. 267.29 crores for the FY 202526 has been made for the PM VIKAS scheme. The scheme has a robust monitoring mechanism wherein the entire candidate lifecycle is being Captured  on  the  Skill  India  Digital  Hub  (SIDH)  portal  of  M/o  Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Further, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  (MSDE)  imparts  skill  training  (skilling,  re-skilling and  upskilling)  through  its  various  flagship  Schemes  viz.  Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National  Apprenticeship  Promotion  Scheme  (NAPS)  and  Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS), to all the sections of the society across 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.

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ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  190  FOR  ANSWER  ON  21.07.2025  REGARDING "SPECIAL INITIATIVES AND BUDGETARY SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYMENT OF SC, ST, OBC AND MINORITIES'.

| Sl. No.   | Name of the Scheme                                               |   Budget Estimates 2025-26 (Rs. in Crores) |
|-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Labour and Employment Statistical System (LESS)                  |                                      72.72 |
| 2         | Labour Welfare Scheme (LWS)                                      |                                      50.68 |
| 3         | Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995                            |                                   11250    |
| 4         | Social Security for Tea Plantation Workers in Assam              |                                      66.87 |
| 5         | Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PMSYM) Yojana                |                                     244.02 |
| 6         | National Pension Scheme (NPS) for Traders &Self-Employed Persons |                                       5.1  |
| 7         | e-Shram Portal - National Database of Unorganized Workers        |                                      27.8  |
| 8         | Rehabilitation of Boded Labour                                   |                                       6    |
| 9         | Coaching and Guidance for SC, ST and OBCs                        |                                      20.61 |
| 10        | National Career Service (NCS)                                    |                                      77    |
| 11        | New Employment Generation Scheme (NEGS) - ELI                    |                                   20000    |
|           | Total                                                            |                                   31820.8  |