Even as various communities across States are demanding reservation in jobs and employment, the high unemployment rates among educated Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) youths and their predominant engagement in low-paid, informal work highlight persistent systemic barriers. The data shows that reservation policies need to be supplemented with measures that improve the quality of education, provide targeted skill development, enforce anti-discrimination laws, and create networking and mentorship opportunities.

The data sets presented in India Employment Report 2024: Youth Employment, Education, and Skills by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development highlights the diversity in employment across social categories in India, noting that SC and ST individuals occupy a lower position in the social hierarchy than Other Backward Classes (OBC) and General Category (GC) individuals. Even the unemployment rate among highly educated youth from marginalised SC or ST groups is higher compared to their peers from OBC or GC.

Only 5.1 per cent of Scheduled Tribes (ST), 7.3 per cent of Scheduled Castes (SC), and 8.7 per cent of Other Backward Classes (OBC) members are in formal employment, compared to over 16 per cent of General Category (GC) members. Over 90 per cent of SC, ST, and OBC members work in the informal sector, while this figure is 84 per cent for GC members. In terms of high and medium-skill jobs, SC, ST, and OBC representation ranges from 4 to 10 per cent, whereas it is 20 per cent for GC individuals. Over 51 per cent of GC members have obtained education ( secondary +) compared to 24 per cent ST, 31 per cent of SC and 40 per cent of OBC members. 

Among youths who completed secondary or higher-secondary education in 2022, the unemployment rate for those from a SC (13.4 per cent) was higher than for those from an OBC (10.5 per cent) and nearly equal to those from a GC (14 per cent). For youths with a graduate degree or higher, the unemployment rate was higher for those from a SC (35 per cent) or ST (33.4 per cent) compared to those from an OBC (28.7 per cent) or a GC (26.5 per cent). These high unemployment rates among socially marginalised youths highlight the challenges they face in securing suitable employment opportunities, perpetuating social disparities and hindering upward social mobility.

“There is significant segmentation and inequality in the Indian labour market across various social and income groups, gender and geographical regions. This implies that certain social groups or classes, such as persons belonging to SC and ST or persons in lower-income brackets, face more formidable barriers to accessing formal and organised sector employment opportunities or high-skill jobs,” the report adds.

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