The special package for India’s textile and garment sector, launched in June 2016 and hailed by many as a potent tool for creation of decent jobs, has met with limited success.
Just .265 million workers have till date enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Paridhan Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMPRPY) for the textile-garment sector. And not all of these are new employments either.

Just 788 units have availed themselves of the benefit so far.

The scheme’s objective was very ambitious: to achieve a cumulative increase of 30 billion dollars in export of textiles and garments and Rs 74,000 crores ($US 10.79 billion) of investments in the employment-intensive sector over three years. The package for the sector included making EPF optional for employees earning less than Rs 15,000 ( $US 219) per month.

While the PMPRPY for the textile sector has had only some success, the PMRPY, aimed at accelerating job creation in the formal sector, has done relatively better as 75,753 units have availed themselves of the benefits of the scheme and the number of beneficiaries (workers) stood at 608.1 million.

Under the scheme launched in August 2016, the government is obliged to pay the entire employee pension scheme (EPS) component of the employer’s EPF contribution for workers with a salary up to Rs 15,000 ( $US 219) per month for the first three years of their employment.