Where has ₹10,000 crore ELI scheme disappeared?: Rahul Gandhi to PM Modi

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday criticised the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government over the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme, alleging that the initiative, launched nearly a year ago, is yet to be implemented.

“After the 2024 election, PM Modi announced the “Employment Linked Incentive” scheme with much fanfare, promising to provide employment to our youth. It’s been nearly a year since announcing the scheme, the government hasn’t even defined it, and has returned the ₹10,000 crores allotted to it. This shows how serious the PM is about unemployment”, Gandhi wrote on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.

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The ELI scheme was introduced as part of the Union Budget 2024-25, with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing it under the Prime Minister’s package to incentivise private sector employment. The scheme aimed to offer salary and provident fund reimbursements to eligible private employers, particularly for hiring first-time employees.

The ELI scheme aims to create over 2 crore jobs in the country in a period of 2 years. This will significantly contribute to increasing employment opportunities and enhancing livelihood.

Three schemes for ‘Employment Linked Incentive’ were announced in Union Budget 2024-25 as part of Prime Minister’s package of 5 schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over a 5-year period with a central outlay of ₹2 lakh crore.