Union Budget 2022-23 for Youth Employment

The Union Budget 2022-23, presented by the Honourable Finance Minister on February 01 2022, gave massive emphasis to economic development and creation of jobs. Having one of the largest youth populations in the world presents India with a great opportunity to grow its economy.

Providing jobs to such a large workforce is a tall ask, but our government has made several announcements in the budget which will help create jobs on a massive scale. This article will discuss important aspects of the Union budget for youth employment.   

Job Creation in Union Budget 2022-23

Every announcement made in the budget for overall economic growth and development will have a direct bearing on youth employment. For example, budget outlays for the construction of highways, ports, airports, railway infrastructure, vocational training, skilling, growth of micro-enterprises, etc., will positively impact both skilled and unskilled job creation.

As per an estimate made in this budget, if we consider only the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, it has the potential to generate at least 60 lakh jobs over the next five years. Moreover, various relaxations and incentives that were given to start-ups  over the last few years have been continued in this budget; this will create a huge demand for skilled jobs.

The PM GatiShakti master plan will give a major impetus to various driving forces of the Indian economy. It will lead to an increase in investments in various infrastructure sectors, thereby giving a major boost to job creation.

Announcements and Schemes for Youth Employment in the Budget 2022-23

Here are some announcements and schemes that were made for youth employment in the Union Budget 2022-23: 

• The government will be launching the Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood (DESH) Stack electronic portal. This portal will assist youth in learning new skills, upgrading their skills, and finding better job opportunities. 
• The PLI scheme will provide incentives to manufacturing companies to set up their units in India. The government has already set aside around Rs. 1.97 lakh crore for the same. As per the budget expectations, this can create 6 million jobs in the next five years and 33 million additional jobs in later years. Sectors in which PLI will be  awarded are pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, electronics, etc. 
• Various MSME-related portals will be interlinked to bring in synergy and ensure smooth business operations. Moreover, it has been announced that there will be an extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to include the hospitality sector, which is one of the biggest labour-intensive industries. 
• The government will continue to support youth in their search for jobs in new-age fields like artificial intelligence, machine learning, semiconductor, space, economics, and others. 

How Will the PM GatiShakti Yojana Impact Employment?

The Pradhan Mantri GatiShakti National Masterplan for Multi-Modal Connectivity is one of the most ambitious infrastructure schemes of the Indian Government. It aims to improve connectivity through the creation of new highways, expressways, dedicated freight corridors, modern ports, river transport terminals, and modern airports.

This will lead to seamless movement of people, cargo and interchange in the country. The government has outlined a budgetary allocation of about Rs. 20,000 crores for this sector in the Union Budget 2022. 

Here are some components of this scheme that will help in employment generation: 

• Construction of about 25,000 km of national highways in the current financial year. 
• Multi-modal logistics park under the public-private partnership mode at four locations. 
• Integration of postal and railway networks and logistics systems for farmers and small businesses.
• “One station, one product” to give a fillip to local industry and further the process of job creation. 
• 100 cargo terminals at various railway stations. The construction of these terminals and their eventual operation will create a number of job opportunities for youth.
• Promotion of tourism by developing ropeways in various tourist and heritage sites. All this will lead to an increase in the footfall of tourists and have a positive effect on the local economy. 

Therefore, we can see that this master plan will see massive capital expenditure over the coming years. When these projects are executed, it will lead to the creation of thousands of direct jobs and lakhs of indirect jobs.

Allocation of Budget for Various Livelihood Schemes

Here are the allocations made towards the employment generation scheme in Budget 2022: 

1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA):

The government launched this scheme with the aim of providing guaranteed 100 days of work to one individual from every household in rural areas. The budgetary allocation for this scheme stood at Rs. 73,000crore. It will boost employment in rural areas.

2. National Rural Livelihood Mission (Aajeevika)

It is a poverty alleviation scheme which provides emphasis on self-employment in rural areas. The total outlay for this scheme, which comes under the Ministry of Rural Development, stands at Rs. 13,336 crore, which is higher than last year’s allocation. 

3. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

This scheme aims at the construction of roads in rural areas of the country. Apart from creating infrastructure, it also provides job opportunities for rural youth. The total allocation for this scheme stands at Rs. 19,000 crores.  

4. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0

It deals with skilling, upskilling and reskilling of youth to make them job oriented. In addition, this scheme provides on-the-site training to job seekers in modern industrial sectors and makes them job-ready. The total outlay in this scheme is Rs. 949 crores. 

Final Word

The Union government is continuously striving to create job opportunities for our youth so that we can fully utilise the demographic dividend. The 2022-23 Union Budget for youth employment has several positive outcomes that will go a long way in creating millions of jobs in hi-tech and sunrise sectors and will make India a manufacturing powerhouse in several segments. 

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