Lok Sabha Question No. 1213 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-28
Subject: Employment Status in North Eastern Region
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Shri Joyanta Basumatary

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1213 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th  JULY, 2025

## EMPLOYMENT STATUS IN NORTH EASTERN REGION

## 1213.    SHRI JOYANTA BASUMATARY:

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

- (a) the details and number of skilled or unskilled youths got jobs in the different sectors in the North Eastern Region (NER) during the last five years;
- (b) whether the Government has taken any action to set-up industries or job oriented sectors in the NER during the said period; and
- (c)
- if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c): The official data source on Employment and Unemployment is Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) since 2017-18.

As  per  the  data  available  in  latest  Annual  PLFS  Reports,  the estimated  Worker  Population  Ratio  (WPR)  for  youth  (15-29  years), indicating employment on usual status during the year 2019-20 to 2023-

24 for the North Eastern Region is at Annexure.

The  Government  of  India  had  introduced  a  new  scheme  UNNATI (Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme) on March 9, 2024 for extending support to the industries for enhancing regional infrastructure, create employment opportunities, and promote resilience and prosperity in the North-East region. Under the UNNATI Scheme, the following incentives are provided to the industrial Units:

- i. Capital Investment Incentive (CII)
2. ii.
3. Capital Interest Subvention (CIS)
- iii. Manufacturing & Services linked incentive (MSLI)

Government of India, with an intent to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing  innovation,  startups  and  encouraging  investments  in  the country also launched the Startup India initiative on 16th January 2016. For  the  North  Eastern  States,  2,109  entities  have  been  recognized  as startups  by  Department  for  Promotion  of  Industry  and  Internal  Trade (DPIIT) as on 31st January 2025. Further, to facilitate credit access for the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises  (MSME)  &  Micro  Finance  sectors  in  the  North  Eastern Region, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) has been  providing annual budgetary allocation to North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) under administrative control of MDoNER, in the form of an  interest  free  loan  under  the  North  East  Enterprise  Development Scheme  (NEEDS)  for  the  period  2021-22  to  2025-26,  with  a  total allocation of Rs. 300 crore.

In  addition,  the  Union  Cabinet  has 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.

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Annexure Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  of  part  (a)  to  (d)  of  the  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred

Question No. 1213 due for reply on 28.07.2025.

State-Wise  details  of  Worker  Population  Ratio  for  persons  aged  15-29  years during 2019-20 to 2023-24

| States/UTs        | Worker Population Ratio (%)   | Worker Population Ratio (%)   | Worker Population Ratio (%)   | Worker Population Ratio (%)   | Worker Population Ratio (%)   |
|-------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|
| States/UTs        | 2019-20                       | 2020-21                       | 2021-22                       | 2022-23                       | 2023-24                       |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 22.9                          | 24.3                          | 20.0                          | 35.1                          | 40.0                          |
| Assam             | 25.2                          | 31.3                          | 37.6                          | 44.6                          | 44.0                          |
| Manipur           | 21.8                          | 17.4                          | 18.7                          | 26.3                          | 24.3                          |
| Meghalaya         | 32.5                          | 37.5                          | 38.8                          | 41.6                          | 53.1                          |
| Mizoram           | 28.6                          | 28.3                          | 25.0                          | 25.1                          | 22.5                          |
| Nagaland          | 13.9                          | 21.5                          | 31.3                          | 38.9                          | 36.5                          |
| Sikkim            | 52.3                          | 46.0                          | 50.2                          | 47.2                          | 52.6                          |
| Tripura           | 32.9                          | 33.2                          | 34.2                          | 36.4                          | 43.9                          |

Source: PLFS, MoSPI