New Delhi: While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s first Union budget presented in July 2024 included measures to boost jobs and employment – in an echo of the 2024 Lok Sabha poll campaign in which unemployment among the youth emerged as a major issue – a look at some of these promises announced reveals they are yet to be rolled out.
According to the Modi government’s own admission as in the Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 released on February 1 when the Union budget 2025-26 was presented in parliament, several flagship measures announced by the government in July 2024 remain unfulfilled.
- The National Cooperation Policy to be rolled out for the “systematic, orderly and all-round development of the cooperative sector” is expected to be launched in the current financial year, while a committee report on it is “under finalisation”.
- Three schemes for the ‘Employment Linked Incentive’ under the ‘Prime Minister’s Package for Employment and Skilling’ for ‘First Timers’, ‘Job Creation in Manufacturing’ and ‘Support to Employers’ remains “under process”, while no specific timeline has been given yet for its rollout.
- The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is implementing a pilot project of the PM Internship Scheme and the lessons drawn it will be “factored in while rolling out the first phase” of the scheme.
- Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that an Economic Policy Framework will be formulated, but at present the Department of Economic Affairs is holding consultations with stakeholders and experts towards preparing the framework.
National Cooperation Policy ‘under finalisation’
The government had announced that a National Cooperation Policy will be rolled out for the “systematic, orderly and all-round development of the cooperative sector.”
It said that fast-tracking the “growth of rural economy and generation of employment opportunities on a large scale will be the policy goal”.
The Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 document states that the policy under the Ministry of Cooperation headed by Union minister Amit Shah “is expected to be launched during the current financial year”.
In the Lok Sabha on February 4, Shah in response to a question by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari wrote that a national-level committee under former Union minister Suresh Prabhu was constituted in 2022 with experts of the cooperative sector to formulate the New National Cooperation Policy to “provide a framework to unlock the true potential of the Cooperative sector”.
Shah said that the committee has prepared a draft policy which is “under finalisation”.
Photo: Screenshot from the Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25.
First-Timers, Job Creation in Manufacturing, Support to Employers ‘under process’
In its bid to boost employment, the Union budget 2024-25 included three schemes for the ‘Employment Linked Incentive’ under the Prime Minister’s Package for Employment and Skilling.
Under this, the First Timers scheme seeks to provide a one-month wage to all persons newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors.
The direct benefit transfer of the one-month salary in three instalments to first-time employees as registered in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will be up to Rs 15,000. The eligibility limit will be a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month.
The scheme is expected to benefit 210 lakh youth.
The Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 document states that a “Draft Cabinet Note on Employment Linked Incentive … scheme is under process”.
The second part of the Employment Linked Incentive under the Prime Minister’s Package for Employment and Skilling is job creation in manufacturing.
The Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 document states that the scheme will incentivise additional employment in the manufacturing sector, linked to the employment of first-time employees.
An incentive will be provided at a specified scale directly both to the employee and the employer with respect to their EPFO contribution in the first four years of employment. The scheme is expected to benefit 30 lakh youth entering employment as well as their employers.
Under ‘Support to Employers’, the scheme states that it is an employer-focussed scheme that will cover additional employment in all sectors:
“All additional employment within a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month will be counted. The government will reimburse to employers up to Rs 3,000 per month for 2 years towards their EPFO contribution for each additional employee. The scheme is expected to incentivise additional employment of 50 lakh persons”.
The Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 document states that for both job creation in manufacturing and support to employers, a “Draft Cabinet Note on Employment Linked Incentive … scheme is under process”.
It also states that the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Confederation of Indian Industry have held several meetings to discuss the relationship between capital expenditure and employment generation.
No timeline given
On February 10, in a written question in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked whether the government has formulated detailed guidelines for the rollout of the three Employment Linked Incentive schemes announced in the Union budget of 2024-25, the details thereof and the expected time for the schemes’ rollout.
In response, minister of state for labour and employment Shobha Karandlaje did not provide a timeline for its rollout.
“In Budget 2024-25, the Government has proposed Employment Linked Incentive Scheme as part of “Prime Minister’s Package on Employment and Skilling” with a total outlay of Rs. 1,07,000/- Cr to stimulate employment generation, enhance employability and ensure social security to the workforce,” her reply stated.
It continued: “The proposed Scheme incentivises employers and employees and focuses on First-Time employees in formal sector. As per the Budget announcement, the period of enrollment under the proposed Scheme is two years. The First-Timers/ Rejoinees with salary up to Rs. One lakh per month will be eligible based on their enrolment in EPFO.”
Internship in top companies: pilot project to give lessons for implementation
In her budget speech in July, Sitharaman had also announced that under the prime minister’s package, the government will launch a comprehensive scheme for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies to one crore youth in five years.
She said that the scheme will help youth gain exposure for 12 months to real-life business environments, varied professions and employment opportunities.
The scheme is to include an internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per month along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000.
Companies will be expected to bear the training cost and 10% of the internship cost from their corporate social responsibility funds.
The Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 document states the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is implementing a pilot project of the PM Internship Scheme, which it noted is targeted at providing 1.25 lakh internship opportunities.
Photo via Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25.
A budget of Rs 840 crore has been approved for the pilot project. The guidelines of the scheme were uploaded on an online portal in October 2024.
“So far, 1.27 lakh internship opportunities have been posted by the companies. Against these, approximately 6.21 lakh applications have been received. Selection process by the companies and joining of the interns are ongoing,” it states.
On February 10, in response to a written question by Shiv Sena MP Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane and BJP MP Sudheer Gupta on whether the government finalised the modalities for operating the said scheme and when the scheme was likely to be rolled out completely, Sitharaman in her written reply stated that a pilot project had been launched in October 2024 that would provide lessons for the scheme’s first phase of implementation.
“In Round I of the Pilot Project, Companies offered more than 1.27 lakh opportunities across different sectors, across all States/UTs. The second round of the PM Internship Scheme Pilot Project has started from 9th January, 2025, and the companies are in the process of posting new as well as editing unfilled internship opportunities,” she said.
“The Pilot Project is a pivotal phase that allows for testing concepts, strategies and systems before a full-scale implementation. Based on the feedback received and evaluation of outcomes during the implementation of the Pilot Project, lessons drawn will be factored in while rolling out the first phase of the PM Internship Scheme, as announced in the Budget 2024-25.”
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In another written reply, minister of state for corporate affairs Harsh Malhotra said in the Rajya Sabha on February 4 that based on the requirements sought by companies in the internship opportunities offered and the qualifications of the applicants, in the first round of the pilot project partner companies had made 82,077 internship offers to 60,866 candidates.
Of this 28,141 candidates accepted offers to join internships as of January 29.
In a separate reply in the Rajya Sabha in response to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji’s question on whether the scheme would improve the employability skills and future employment opportunities of the youth, Sitharaman said the scheme helps in enhancing employability.
The scheme, she said, “provides an opportunity to the youth to get training, gain experience and skills within the real-life environment of the businesses or organisations that helps in bridging the gap between academic learning and industry requirements, in turn, assisting enhancement of her/his employability.”
Economic policy framework: consultations underway
In her Union budget 2024-25 speech, Sitharaman had said that an Economic Policy Framework will be formulated to “to delineate the overarching approach to economic development and set the scope of the next generation of reforms for facilitating employment opportunities and sustaining high growth.”
The Implementation of the Budget Announcements 2024-25 document states that the Department of Economic Affairs is holding consultations with stakeholders and experts towards preparing the Economic Policy Framework.
“The documentation related to the policy framework will be completed based on inputs from experts and in house work within the Department,” it states.
It also states that NITI Aayog is holding “brainstorming sessions with stakeholders and Academia, focused on structural reforms in areas such as labour-intensive manufacturing, infrastructure financing, taxation, investment, health, education and skilling.”
It also states that NITI Aayog is working on a report detailing the structural reforms necessary to enhance the productivity of factors of production and to sustain economic growth.