Lok Sabha Question No. 3931 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-18
Subject: Social Security for Informal Sector Workforce
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Shri Bhausaheb Rajaram Wakchaure, Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Shri Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh, Shri Bajrang Manohar Sonwane

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3931

TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 TH  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, Statewise;
- (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 reskilling  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 selfdeclaration 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 -StopSolution' 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].

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