Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - India (Ratification: 1959)

Articles 1–3 and 7 of the Convention and Part IV of the report form. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. Measures for particular categories of applicants for employment. Statistics. The Government indicates that 1,005 Employment Exchanges operate across India. Thirty-eight of those contain special cells for differently abled persons and 42 Special Employment Exchanges are established to only serve this group of persons. Furthermore, 76 of the Exchanges are dedicated University Employment Information and Guidance Bureaux, 14 serve professionals and executive only and five are specifically dedicated for women. Between the last report and May 2023, 29.42 million men and 16.3 million women were reported in the Live Register with 520,000, respectively 120,000 having been placed. The Committee notes that in December 2021, from the around 44,070,000 registered jobseekers, including 15,830,000 women, 5,840,000 belonged to minority communities, 35,020,000 were educated of which 15,560,000 were women, and of which 6,100,000 belonged to the Scheduled Caste and 2,230,000 to the Scheduled Tribe – the latter two, as defined in the Constitution of India, being considered as the most socio-economic disadvantaged. Among the overall registered jobseekers, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Class, that is castes classified by the Government as educationally or socially backward, numbered 7,030,000, 2,536,000 and 1,1430,000. At the same time, 700,000 differently abled jobseekers were registered. The Committee notes that the Decent Work Country Programme for India (2023–2027) foresees as output 2.1.1 under Strategic Priority 2 to increase, inter alia through ILO technical support, institutional capacity at the national and subnational levels to foster employment growth particularly in employment-intensive sectors and also with a focus on green jobs, digital economy, rural economy, care economy, and vulnerable workers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to establish and locate sufficient employment offices to serve the employers and workers in each of the geographical areas and what provision is made for review of the network of Employment Exchanges and revision, where necessary, to meet the changing requirements of the economy and the working population. (Article 3). The Committee further requests the Government to give further particulars concerning the arrangements made to give effect to Article 7, including the occupations, industries and special categories of applicants for which specialized arrangements have been made. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide statistical information for all regions, disaggregated by state and region, on the number of public employment offices established, the number of applications for employment received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of female and male workers placed in employment by the Employment Exchanges.

Article 8. Special arrangements for juveniles. The Committee notes that out of the total of jobseekers in December 2021, around 2,802,000 were youth up to 29 years of age, which constitutes 63.6 pc of the total. The Government indicates that a key role of Employment Exchanges, of which 409 accommodate special Vocational Guidance Units, is to motivate and guide unemployed youth for taking up self-employment ventures due to the decrease in jobs in wage labour – 22 Employment Exchanges contain Special Cells for the Promotion of Self-Employment. Furthermore, the Government refers to the Directorate-General of Employment established the National Career Services (NCS) Portal, a free online employment one-stop-shop exchange module developed to connect job opportunities with the youth and facilitates the registration of jobseekers, job providers, skill providers, career counsellors and provides vocational guidance, information on skill development courses as well as internships. In May 2023, 31,900,000 jobseekers were registered in the NCS Portal and 13,900,000 vacancies were published. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the special arrangements for juveniles initiated and developed within the framework of the Employment Exchanges and other employment and vocational guidance services.

Articles 4–6 and 9–11. Arrangements for the co-operation of representatives of employers and workers in the organisation and operation of the Employment Exchanges and in the development of employment service policy. Other functions discharged by the Exchanges in connection with the aims of Article 5. Staff of the Employment Exchanges. National and local arrangements made in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations to encourage full voluntary use of the Employment Exchanges. Effective co-operationbetween the Employment Exchanges and private employment agencies not conducted with a view to profit. The Committee requests the Governmentto give particulars of the arrangements made through advisory committees for the cooperation of employer and worker representatives in the organization and operation of the Employment Exchangesand in the development of employment service policy and to indicate the number of advisory committees established nationally, regionally and locally (if applicable), how they are constituted, and the procedure adopted for the appointment of employer and worker representatives. (Articles 4 and 5) It further requests the Government to describe any other functions discharged by the Employment Exchanges in connection with the aims of Article 6. The Government is also asked to give particulars concerning the status and conditions of service of the employment service staff and general information concerning the methods of recruitment and selection of this staff, to indicate the arrangements made to ensure the training of employment service staff for the performance of their duties, including both: (a) arrangements for their initial training at the time of appointment to the service; and (b) arrangements for subsequent training. (Article 9) Please also indicate the arrangements made nationally and locally in cooperation with employers’ and workers’ organizations to encourage full voluntary use of the Employment Exchanges (Article 10). Finally, the Government is asked to give particulars concerning the arrangements made to ensure effective cooperation between the Employment Exchanges and private employment agencies not conducted with a view to profit. (Article 11).