EXCLUSIVE | From skilling people to internship schemes - FM Sitharaman outlines how the government is tackling unemployment | Video

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, February 3, in an exclusive interview with ET Now, said the government is taking a multi-pronged approach to tackle unemployment, focusing on skilling, job matching, entrepreneurship and internships, while ensuring sanctioned government posts are being filled.Sitharaman said, "I think unemployment is an issue that we are addressing very seriously, not just through the Budget but also through other measures -- skilling people, creating a portal where matchmaking can happen between available skills and jobs being offered and so on. Government jobs have been filled since November 2022 and no sanctioned positions are being left vacant. Government jobs are getting filled up.""We are also creating opportunities for people to become entrepreneurs. Even if they do not get jobs, they can run their own ventures. So this is not a one-dimensional approach to addressing jobs. It looks at the entire gamut of what constitutes productive work so that people can earn a livelihood from it," she said, adding, "across sectors, we are focusing on skilling people, giving them opportunities and exposing them to different companies through internship schemes and similar initiatives. The government has not sat back on the requirements of the youth."Union Budget 2026Finance Minister Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament today, February 1. The Budget 2026 began at 11 am Indian Standard Time (IST). The Budget laid out the key economic figures and the government's development plans for the upcoming fiscal year 2026-27. The Union Budget 2026 serves as the primary document outlining the Centre’s fiscal strategy, economic priorities, and policy direction. This is record ninth consecutive Budget presentation by FM Sitharaman since 2019.Why Budget 2026 on Sunday?In recent history, this was the first time that the Union Budget was presented on a Sunday. The date of the presentation of the budget, however, wasn’t always fixed to February 1. Traditionally, it was introduced on the final working day of February -- a practice that held until 2017. The PM Narendra Modi government, led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, brought the change by shifting the date forward to accelerate the rollout of new policies before the start of the financial year. This was a significant shift from India’s origins. R.K. Shanmukham Chetty presented Independent India’s very first budget on November 26, 1947.Why is Budget 2026 important?The Budget 2026 aims to outline measures to strengthen India's long-term growth potential by building a robust and deep consumption class, boosting self-reliance, providing better access to credit to support self-employment opportunities and preventing the Indian economy from external shocks like Donald Trump-led US tariffs and geopolitical tensions. It also comes at a time when the government is balancing fiscal discipline with the need for continued public spending.https://youtu.be/S0dkvPRaQkM?si=JqOoGiivrhvvBgsH