India's unemployment rate of 2 per cent according to World Economic Forum is the lowest among G20 nations, Union Labour & Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Monday.
The minister highlighted how employment generation has taken place across sectors in tandem with India’s rapid economic growth and underlined the schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY) that have contributed towards the same.
He was addressing a gathering at the signing of MoUs between the ministry and digital mentorship platform ‘Mentor Together’ and classifieds online site ‘Quikr’ for enhancing employment opportunities as well as youth employability on the National Career Service (NCS) portal.
Mandaviya said that these partnerships would make suitable employment opportunities as well as structured mentoring available to jobseekers, particularly in light of PM-VBRY coming into effect in August this year.
Under PM-VBRY, Rs 99,446 crore is allocated towards incentivising the creation of over 3.5 crore jobs in two years, of which 1.92 crore will benefit first-time entrants to the workforce.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje noted that NCS has emerged as India’s premier platform for digital employment facilitation, offering job matching, counselling, and skilling at one place.
The partnership with Mentor Together is expected to reach 2 lakh youth in its first year, including 1 lakh from NCS and 1 lakh PM-VBRY entrants, delivering personalized career mentoring with city and district-level outreach, so that no jobseeker is left behind, she added.
It will also enable first-time job seekers, particularly those from underserved backgrounds, to access personalized guidance from over 24,000 trained professionals.
The MoU renewal with Quikr aims to further strengthen the employment ecosystem by integrating over 1,200 daily job listings across 1,200 plus cities from Quikr Jobs into the NCS portal.
This collaboration will expand real-time access to job opportunities for millions of seekers, especially from rural and underserved regions.
The NCS platform, with nearly 52 lakh registered employers, 5.79 crore job seekers and over 7.22 crore vacancies mobilized, is now evolving to offer not just job listings, but as a one-stop solution for all employment-related services.
"Currently, there are over 44 lakh active vacancies on the portal. Over the past year, the ministry has signed MoUs with ten key organisations, including Amazon and Swiggy. These partnerships have already mobilized nearly five lakh vacancies," Mandaviya said.
Highlighting the government’s renewed focus on youth, he recalled that, in the third term, the Modi government had announced a package of five flagship schemes with a total budget of Rs 2 lakh crore to support employment, skilling, and opportunities for 4.1 crore youth.
The minister further underscored the importance of employment creation through the growth of services, manufacturing, and agriculture, noting that the government has launched transformative schemes such as MUDRA and PM SVANidhi to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship.
