Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre la política del empleo, 1964 (núm. 122) - India (Ratificación : 1998)

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the issues relating to the application of ratified Conventions on employment policy and vocational guidance and training, the Committee considers it appropriate to examine Conventions Nos 122 (employment policy) and 142 (human resources development) together.

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Convention No. 122, received on 27 September 2023, as well as the Government’s reply thereto.

Employment policy

Article 1(2)(c). Specific sectors and categories of workers. The Government reports on the measures taken by the NCS to promote sustainable employment and decent work for youth, adding that one of the main objectives of the NCS is empowering young people through digital skills. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) expanded skills training nationwide, notably under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) scheme, with multiple phases designed to incorporate lessons learned and to support disadvantaged groups, including women, young people, persons with disabilities, and transgender people. Under PMKVY, training was offered through either short-term training or recognition of prior learning across approximately 1,171 job roles in 36 sectors. As of May 2023, a total of 13.7 million candidates had been trained. Moreover, the National Career Service Centres for Differently Abled (NCSCDAs) assess capacities, provide non-formal vocational training, placement support and outreach, including job fairs and awareness activities for those that may not suited to formal training. The Committee recalls that, according to the concluding observations on the initial report of India by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in October 2019, only 37 per cent of persons with disabilities have access to employment, and the employment quota of 4 per cent of persons with disabilities is not sufficiently implemented (CRPD/C/IND/CO/1, para. 56(a) and (c)). The Committee notes the expansion of skill-development initiatives targeting disadvantaged groups and recalls that Article 3 of the Convention calls for consultation not only with employers’ and workers’ organizations but also with representatives of the persons affected by employment measures. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to indicate how organizations of persons with disabilities, youth associations, women’s groups and representatives of marginalized communities are consulted in the design, delivery and evaluation of these programmes. The Committee also requests the Government to provide outcome-level data for each scheme (e.g. PMKVY, NCSCDAs), indicating placement rates, average wages and retention levels of beneficiaries, disaggregated by sex, disability, caste and region. Please also provide information on measures taken to ensure accessibility of training centres and online services for persons with disabilities, in line with the CRPD Committee’s 2019 recommendations.

Employment of women. The Government indicates that it has adopted measures to increase women’s labour force participation and improve the quality of their employment, including provisions on maternity protection, créche facilities, and safe nightshift work. It also indicates that training is provided to women through a network of Women’s Industrial Training Institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes, and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the estimated labour force participation rate for women aged 15 years and above increased from 30.0 per cent in 2019–20 to 32.5 per cent in 2020–21, and further to 32.8 per cent in 2021–22. The Committee notes that, according to ILOSTAT, the labour force participation rate for women increased to 34.4 per cent in 2024. A tripartite committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to improve women’s workforce participation. The main tasks of the committee are to: analyse current workforce participation using the latest statistics, trends, and challenges; identify and address barriers that hinder workforce participation; provide strategic advice on removing obstacles faced by women in accessing employment; and provide policy recommendations to increase women’s participation in the labour market. While welcoming the upward trend in women’s labour force participation, the Committee notes that women remain under-represented in formal wage employment and leadership roles. It therefore requests the Government to provide detailed, disaggregated information on the results of programmes promoting women’s access to quality employment, including in non-traditional sectors and digital occupations. Please indicate whether gender impact assessments or evaluations have been conducted and how the findings inform the design of subsequent initiatives. Recalling that effective promotion of women’s employment requires consultation with women workers’ organizations and representative associations, the Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the functioning, composition and outcomes of the tripartite committee established to improve women’s workforce participation, including any policy recommendations implemented to date.

Rural areas. In response to its request concerning the impact of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in 2022–23, 99.81 per cent of rural households that requested work were offered wage employment. If an applicant is not provided employment within 15 days of the request, they are entitled to a daily unemployment allowance. The Committee notes from the report the person-days generated over 2019 to 2023, with a peak of 3.89 billion total person-days in 2020–21 and a low of 2.48 billion person-days in 2022–23. It further notes the additional programmes targeting rural areas, including the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs), an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development to establish dedicated district-level infrastructure for training and upskilling rural youth geared towards entrepreneurship. The RSETIs are managed by banks with active cooperation of the Government and state governments. By 30 November 2022, they had trained approximately 374,000 candidates, of whom about 251,000 were settled in employment or self-employment. The Committee notes that MGNREGA remains an important instrument for income security and employment generation in rural areas, but emphasizes that its potential contribution to productive and sustainable employment depends on the linkages established with skills development, local enterprise support and access to markets. The Committee requests the Government to indicate how coordination is ensured between MGNREGA, the RSETIs and other rural-employment schemes, and to provide information on the number of beneficiaries who have transitioned from temporary employment under MGNREGA to sustainable self-employment or wage employment. Please also describe measures to promote women’s participation and equal remuneration in rural works programmes.

Vocational guidance and training

Articles 1 and 2 of Convention No. 142. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies. Coordination with employment. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that career services, including vocational guidance and training, are provided to jobseekers through employment exchanges and portals, such as the National Career Service (NCS) portal. The Government recalls that the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship certification scheme of the MSDE, offering short-duration skills training and recognition of prior learning. The Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) aims to impart vocational skills to persons with lower levels of education and school dropouts in the 15–45 age group, with priority given to women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other minorities. The objective of the scheme is to raise household income by promoting self-employment and wage employment through skills training. Under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), long-term training is provided through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) nationwide. ITIs offer a wide range of vocational courses across many economic sectors, with the objective of supplying skilled workers to industry and supporting youth self-employment. In response to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government provides details on the numbers of persons trained under MSDE schemes as of March 2023: 13,724,226 individuals under PMKVY since the 2015–16 financial year; 1,962,237 individuals under JSS since 2018–19; 5,089,060 individuals under CTS since 2018–19; and 2,040,250 individuals under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme since 2018–19. The Committee notes that, according to the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) 2023–27, approximately 4.1 per cent of youth and 3.3 per cent of those aged 15–59 in 2020–21 had received (or were receiving) formal vocational and technical training. The proportion of people with formal skills training needs to be scaled up massively: both potential entrants to the labour force and the existing workforce require upskilling.

The Committee recalls that effective application of Convention No. 142 requires that vocational guidance and training policies be designed within a comprehensive framework linking education systems, labour-market analysis and employment services. It therefore requests the Government to provide information on the institutional mechanisms for coordination between the MSDE, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour and Employment to ensure consistency between skills policies and national employment objectives. Noting the Government’s efforts under PMKVY 4.0 and the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme, the Committee requests updated data on training outcomes, including employment rates and average earnings of trainees six and twelve months after completion, disaggregated by sex, age and region. Please indicate how feedback from employers and trainees is collected and integrated into programme design. The Committee further requests information on the steps taken to align sectoral training programmes with green and digital-economy priorities identified in India’s G20 commitments and the Decent Work Country Programme (2023–27).

Article 1(5). Equality of opportunity. In response to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that it has taken steps to enhance employability through self-employment schemes, including: (i) the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), which facilitates self-employment by extending collateral-free loans to micro and small business enterprises and individuals to set up or expand businesses; (ii) the Prime Minister’s Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANhidi) scheme, implemented since June 2020 to provide collateral-free working-capital loans to street vendors whose businesses were adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic; and (iii) the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), a major credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment through the establishment of microenterprises in the non-farm sector, supporting traditional artisans and unemployed youth. The V.V. Giri National Labour Institute provides awareness on the role of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) in skills and entrepreneurship development. The National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) has been aligned to dynamic industry needs, with approval parameters, processes and procedures simplified, standardized and revised to meet requirements across industry, schools and the unorganized sector. SSC governing councils include senior representatives from relevant industries. During the approval process of a qualification pack, curricula undergo industry validation and review prior to approval by the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET).

The Committee welcomes the wide range of self-employment and entrepreneurship programmes and recalls that equality of opportunity requires ensuring effective access for all workers, particularly women, scheduled castes and tribes, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups. It therefore requests the Government to provide sex- and caste-disaggregated statistics on beneficiaries under PMMY, PM SVANidhi and PMEGP, including repayment and business-survival rates after twelve and twenty-four months. Please indicate how monitoring data are used to tailor financial-literacy and business-development support for under-represented groups. It also requests information on how representatives of disadvantaged groups, including informal-economy associations, are consulted through Sector Skill Councils or other mechanisms in identifying skills needs and designing training curricula.

Article 3. Vocational guidance information. The Government indicates that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has placed special emphasis on vocational education and skills, including integration with general education through the Samagra Shiksha scheme, expansion to aided schools, pre-vocational exposure and internships. The University Grants Commission facilitates higher skills-based education under the NSQF, with multiple entry and exit options, apprenticeship and internship embedded degrees, and a revised curriculum and credit framework. The MSDE provides long-term skills training through 14,953 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and short-term training through schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) (through 721 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) established across 631 districts). In coordination with the Ministry of Education, the MSDE launched the Skill Hubs Initiative (SHI) on 1 January 2022 as a pilot under PMKVY 3.0. SHI operationalizes NEP 2020’s vision to integrate and mainstream vocational education with general education. Skill Hubs are centres that provide skills development and vocational training opportunities to school dropouts and others out of education. The MSDE and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) organize consultations with industry associations and other stakeholders to build and sustain the skills ecosystem and to implement schemes for skilling children, young people and adults. In response to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government has provided links to publicly available information on vocational guidance and counselling. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on how the new Skill Hubs Initiative and NEP 2020 vocational-education components ensure equal access for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds and rural areas, and on their coordination with NCS career-counselling services. Please also provide data on participation and completion rates in these schemes, disaggregated by sex, region and social group, and on the share of participants entering employment or further education.

Article 4. Vocational training and lifelong learning. The Committee previously requested information on measures to ensure vocational training programmes cover different fields of the economy and adapt to changing individual and labour market needs. In this regard, it notes the vocational training programmes reported by the Government, including the Skill India Mission, which focuses on skilling, reskilling and upskilling through short and long-term training programmes. Under the Mission, more than 20 central ministries and departments implement skill-development schemes. The Committee also notes that the MSDE implements the Scheme of Polytechnics through the Directorate-General of Training. One component, Community Development through Polytechnics (CDTP) provides non-formal, short-term, employment-oriented training through polytechnics for marginalized groups to enable gainful self or wage employment. In 2022–23, the CDTP guidelines were revised to allow implementation through National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and to extend coverage to aspirational and border-area districts. The Government indicates that, under the guidelines, identified institutions should target poor and vulnerable groups in both urban and rural areas, including women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, school dropouts, street children, persons with disabilities, and other disadvantaged groups. According to the fourth round of the Quarterly Employment Survey (the fourth quarter of the 2022 financial year) covering establishments with at least ten workers in nine major sectors, 15.6 per cent of estimated establishments provided formal skills training and 20.5 per cent provided on-the-job training. The health sector had the highest shares (formal training 24.7 per cent, on-the-job training 31.6 per cent), followed by financial services (20.4 per cent and 26.4 per cent, respectively). The Committee recalls that Convention No. 142 calls for lifelong access to training adapted to changing labour-market requirements. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on measures promoting continuous learning and reskilling for mid-career workers, including digital-skills initiatives under the Skill India Digital platform. Please also indicate how the CDTP and polytechnic schemes contribute to transitions to formality in line with the 2025 International Labour Conference conclusions on informality, and how workers and community organizations are consulted in identifying training priorities.

Article 5. Cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in collaboration with industry, Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which represent approximately 40,000 industry partners, identify skills needs and prepare a catalogue detailing types, range and depth of skills to guide individual choice. The MSDE has signed memoranda of understanding with eight ministries and departments to promote skills development, cross-utilization of resources and infrastructure, and district-level convergence. In addition, the MSDE and the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises are organizing consultations, including meetings, seminars and workshops, with industry associations, such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and other stakeholders to develop the skills ecosystem and implement programmes for skilling children, youth and adults. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations and other interested bodies in the formulation and implementation of vocational guidance and training policies, including through the Sector Skill Councils. Please describe the consultation mechanisms used, the frequency of meetings, and concrete examples of how social-partner inputs have influenced training policy or curricula.