Quest Journals Journal of Research in Business and Management Volume 11 ~ Issue 4 (2023) pp: 16-23 ISSN(Online):2347-3002 www.questjournals.org *Corresponding Author: Anil Kumar Mohanty 16 | Page Research Paper A Study on Employment Generation in India: Opportunities and Challenges Anil Kumar Mohanty 1 Dr. Anup Kumar Roy 2 1 Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (A Central University), 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, CG-495009, Corresponding Author: Anil Kumar Mohanty ABSRACT: Sustaininga balance among population growth, labor force,and employment generation is challenging for a developing country. It is possible only through productive economic policies and their effective implementation to strengthen the country. This study descriptively analyzes the employment status (i.e., Labor Force Rate, Employment Rate, Unemployment Rate) and economic growth(GDP Growth) in India with the help of information collected from different sources like the Economic Outlook database, CEIC database, MOSPI database, RBI database, etc. The entire study found better growth in employment generation in the post-reform period as compared to the pre-reform period and in the recent past, all above-said rates are highly imbalanced due to the lockdown during COVID-19. However, in the current situation, India is quite stable but has to make a balance between the growth of the population, a balanced investment in rural as well as urban, and the generation of employment with a special preference for the rural sector.The country should use the unprecedented health and economic crisis to truly build a new social contract, it is a commitment to India @ 75 (Azadi Ki Amrit Mahotsav). KEY WORDS: Labor Force Rate, Employment Generation, GDP Growth Received 22 Mar., 2023; Revised 02 Apr., 2023; Accepted 05 Apr., 2023 © The author(s) 2023. Published with open access at www.questjournals.org I. INTRODUCTION: India is the second most populated country withthe second largest labor productivity in the world. With the second largest productivity, India should economically grow with the creation of adequate income for the labor force. For the generation of income source of the labor force, the concerned ministry of the country should not only make new policies in changing environment but also should review and amend its existing policies as per need to generate good quality and quantity of jobs consistently. According to International Labor Organization (ILO), the indicators that measure an economy’s ability to generate sufficient employment opportunities for its population can provide valuable insights into the economy’s overall development performance. These indicators include unemployment rates, the employment to population ratios, labor force participation rates, and the growth of employment with respect to output i.e., how much employment growth is associated with a 1% point of economic growth. The recent pandemic has devasted the livelihood of people at large in the world. As a highly populated country, India also suffered a lot to escape from the massive disaster situation. Usually, the survival of the people in India depends upon the sources of income they earned. India is a labor and employment-oriented country. The employment opportunities in India are debatable concern always i.e., during COVID-19 and pre- pandemic periods. Basole (2022), found the weakest relationship between economic growth and employment generation and still has even. In recent, the recovery of the gap inthe generation of employment in India during COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 become a big challenge. The economy of India is facing a declining elasticity of employment forever due to the low rate of labor force participation in the productivity of the country. For that reason, the labor market is facing problems and hampering the country's economic growth. The outputs are high levels of informality and unemployment and high levels of open unemployment among skilled youth (Basole, 2022).