Union Cabinet Clears Employment-Linked Incentive Scheme

Speedy Summary

• Union Government Cabinet approved the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme.
• Purpose: To incentivize newly registering employees (with wages under ₹1 lakh) and their employers.
• Objective: Creation of 3.5 crore jobs within two years (August 2025 to July 2027).
• Budget: ₹99.45 crore allocated for the scheme over two years.
• Benefits for Employees: Up to ₹15,000 disbursed in two instalments over one year.
• Benefits for Employers: ₹3,000 per month for two years; extended benefits up to four years for manufacturing sectors.
• Payment Mode: Direct benefit Transfer (DBT) linked to Aadhaar/PAN bank accounts.
• Statement by Debi Prasad Bhattacharya,Regional PF commissioner-I,communicated via press release.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The Employment Linked incentive (ELI) Scheme represents a focused effort by the Indian government toward job creation in an economy seeking robust recovery and growth post challenges like unemployment and industrial slowdown. With a budget allocation of ₹99.45 crore over its two-year duration aimed at generating millions of jobs,its potential impact on both employees and employers is noteworthy-especially with specific incentives targeting manufacturing sectors over an extended period.

Ensuring payments through DBT tied to Aadhaar/PAN-linked accounts should ideally reduce administrative delays while eliminating leakage or misuse of funds at various implementation levels. A notable factor influencing success will be adequate awareness among eligible beneficiaries combined with streamlined monitoring mechanisms by governing bodies such as provident fund authorities.

If implemented effectively across diverse industries as outlined under its targeted beneficiaries earning less than 1L annually eligibility framework maintaining retention timelines clarity statements executed professional public stakeholders matters/ clarity appointments.)

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