ESI Answer Bank Part 3: Employment, Labour and Skills (5 Model Answers for RBI Grade B)

This is Part 3 of our ESI answer bank. Employment questions test whether you understand data (PLFS) and policy (Labour Codes, schemes) together. Revise the concepts in our employment and poverty notes.

Q1. Female labour force participation in India has risen but remains low. Explain why and suggest measures. (180 words)

Answer: Female LFPR has risen sharply from about 23% in 2017-18 to around 35% (CWS, September 2026) and over 40% on the usual-status measure. Yet it is still far below the male rate (about 75–78%).

Reasons for the rise: more women in self-employment and farm work, SHG-led livelihoods (about 10 crore women in DAY-NRLM), better data capturing unpaid family work.

Reasons it stays low:

1. Unpaid care work: women do most childcare and housework.
2. Safety and mobility concerns, especially for urban jobs (urban female LFPR is only about 26%).
3. Social norms and marriage-related exits.
4. Lack of suitable jobs near home; manufacturing hasn’t absorbed women at scale.

Measures:

• Childcare facilities (crèches under the Social Security Code) and paid maternity leave.
• Safe transport and working women’s hostels.
• Skilling in services, care economy and digital jobs.
• Credit through Lakhpati Didi, MUDRA and Stand-Up India.

Conclusion: Raising female LFPR to 50% could add significantly to GDP. It is both a growth and an equality goal.

Teacher’s note: Mention the care economy. It is a modern, examiner-friendly term.

Q2. Discuss the significance of the four Labour Codes. (170 words)

Answer: The four Labour Codes, the Code on Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020) and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020), replaced 29 central labour laws and came into force in November 2025 (approx).

Significance:

1. Simplification: one registration, one licence and one return instead of many forms.
2. Universal minimum wage and a national floor wage for all workers.
3. Social security for gig and platform workers for the first time.
4. Flexibility for industry: firms with up to 300 workers can lay off or close without prior government approval (earlier 100).
5. Women can work night shifts with consent and safety measures.

Concerns: trade unions fear weaker job security and stricter rules for strikes; states must frame rules quickly.

Way forward: Balanced implementation with strong inspection and grievance systems and quick registration of gig workers on e-Shram can deliver both ease of doing business and worker welfare.

Q3. What are the challenges of India’s gig economy? How can gig workers be protected? (165 words)

Answer: Gig workers are people who take short tasks through apps (delivery, ride-hailing, freelancing). NITI Aayog estimated about 77 lakh gig workers in 2020-21, likely to reach about 2.35 crore by 2029-30.

Challenges:

1. No employer–employee relationship, so no PF, health cover or paid leave.
2. Income insecurity: algorithm-driven pay and sudden deactivation.
3. Long hours and road safety risks.
4. No collective bargaining.

Protection measures:

• The Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig and platform workers and creates a social security fund (platforms contribute 1–2% of turnover).
• Registration on e-Shram and coverage under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY (announced in Budget 2025-26).
• State laws like Rajasthan’s (2023) and Karnataka’s gig worker acts.
• Transparent algorithms and grievance redressal on platforms.

Conclusion: The gig economy creates flexible jobs for youth and women. Portable social security can make these jobs decent jobs.

Q4. Why is youth unemployment high despite fast growth? (170 words)

Answer: India’s GDP grew about 7.7% in FY26, yet urban youth (15–29) unemployment remains in double digits (approx 15–17%). This points to a structural problem.

Causes:

1. Skill mismatch: many graduates lack job-ready skills; industry reports say fewer than half are employable (approx).
2. Capital-intensive growth: fast-growing sectors like IT and finance employ fewer workers per crore of output.
3. Weak labour-intensive manufacturing: textiles, leather and food processing have not scaled like in Vietnam or Bangladesh.
4. Preference for government jobs: many youth wait for exams, raising measured unemployment.
5. Low apprenticeship culture.

Measures:

• Skill India, PM Internship Scheme and industry-linked apprenticeships.
• PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana incentives for first-time employees.
• PLI and support for labour-intensive sectors and MSMEs.
• NEP 2020’s focus on vocational education.

Conclusion: Linking education with industry and boosting labour-intensive manufacturing can convert India’s demographic dividend into real jobs.

Q5. Critically evaluate VB-G RAM G, which replaced MGNREGA. (180 words)

Answer: The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 replaced MGNREGA (2005) from 1 July 2026.

Key features:

1. Guarantees 125 days of wage work per rural household (up from 100).
2. Centre–state funding of 60:40 (90:10 for NE and Himalayan states), instead of full central funding of wages.
3. Normative state-wise allocations instead of a purely demand-driven budget.
4. A 60-day pause on works during peak sowing and harvest seasons.
5. Focus on productive assets, digital monitoring and one-third women’s participation.

Positives: more days of work, better asset quality, less leakage through biometrics and GPS.

Concerns:

• Poorer states may struggle to fund 40%, which could shrink work in practice.
• Fixed allocations may weaken the “right to work on demand”, MGNREGA’s core idea.
• The agricultural pause may reduce income in distress years.

Way forward: Timely central releases, flexibility in allocations during droughts and strong social audits can keep the scheme a true safety net.

Teacher’s note: “Critically evaluate” means positives and concerns, then a balanced conclusion.

Practise next

1. “Discuss the role of MSMEs in employment generation.” (150 words)
2. “What is the demographic dividend? How can India use it?” (150 words)

Related reading

• ESI answer bank: all parts
• Employment and poverty notes
• Government schemes A to Z

Model answers by the SyllabusBox Team. Update data on exam day from the latest PLFS and Economic Survey.