Question : Employment Exchanges

(a) the total number of employment exchanges functioning in the country along with the number of unemployed persons, registered with them, State/UT-wise;
(b) whether there is steady increase of job seekers over the years and the number of persons got employment through such exchanges is minimal;
(c) if so, the details thereof during the last two years, State/UT-wise and the reaction of the Government thereto;
(d) whether the Government has any proposal to transform employment exchanges into career centres;
(e) if so, the details thereof along with the amount allocated for the same and the benefits likely to accrue therefrom;
(f) whether the employment exchanges in various States under the National Career Service Scheme have failed to place the registered candidates and have shown a low national placement percentage of 0.57%; and
(g) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for low placement percentage along with the steps taken by the Government to address the challenges faced by the employment exchanges?

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a): As per the information received from the States/UTs, the number of employment exchanges functioning in the country (as on January, 2016) is 997 and the number of job seekers, all of whom may not necessarily be unemployed, registered with live register of employment exchanges in the country were 4.49 crore (Provisional) in Sept, 2015. Data for the year 2016 & 2017 are not available. The State/UT-wise detail is given at Annexure-I.


(b) & (c): As per the information received from the States/UTs, the number of job seekers, all of whom may not necessarily be unemployed, registered with live register of employment exchanges in the country and placement made through these employment exchanges in the country is given at Annexure-II.

(d) to (g): The Ministry is implementing the National Career Service (NCS) Project as a plan scheme for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of employment related services like job matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, etc. The NCS Project envisages setting up of 100 Model Career Centres (MCCs) in collaboration with States and other institutions to deliver employment services. There are 67 employment exchanges which have been transformed into Career Centers. The amount allocated for this purpose is given below:
Year Allocation of amount (Rs. in Lakh)
2014-15 398.41
2015-16 716.17
2016-17 387.22
2017-18 (till date) 67.21

As on 22nd Feb, 2018, on NCS portal 4.03 crore job seekers and 14.87 lakh employers were registered and 8.40 lakh jobs have been mobilised.

The Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority concern of the Government. The Government is implementing various programmes in this direction like encouraging private sector of economy, fast tracking various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deendyal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).

MUDRA and Start-Ups schemes are initiated by the Government for facilitating self-employment. In order to improve the employability of youth, around 22 Ministries/Departments run skill development schemes across various sectors.
A Scheme called Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) has been launched by the Government in the year 2016-17 for incentivizing industry for promoting employment generation.
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