Govt to conduct nationwide Adult Skills Survey to assess skills level

The survey is expected to be conducted after the first quarter of 2026. It is aimed at assessing skill levels across basic, intermediate, and advanced categories

The government is planning to launch a nationwide Adult Skills Survey in 2026 to evaluate competencies among citizens who are aged 18 or above, Moneycontrol reported.

 

The survey is expected to be conducted after the first quarter of 2026. It aims to assess skill levels across basic, intermediate, and advanced categories, providing policymakers with a clearer understanding of employability and the state of workforce readiness.

 

Why is the government planning an adult skills survey now?

 

The exercise is being carried out to help the government take a stock of its adult workforce for the first time in more than a decade. Citing an official, the report added that the adult skilling survey will give a fair idea about the on-ground situation. Another official stated that the discussions are still underway on the survey's design and whether it should be conducted over an entire year or quarterly. The official further added that the core objective of the survey, however, is already defined, which is aligning skilling policy with real workforce capabilities instead of presumed demand.

 

What framework will the adult skills survey follow?

 

According to a report in The Economic Times, the survey will be undertaken at the request of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and will be based on the Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) framework.

 

What do existing data show about India’s skill gaps?

 

So far, there is no dedicated data available on overall skill levels. The recently concluded three-day conference of chief secretaries flagged skill gaps and low educational attainment across the workforce. The issue came into sharper focus as India’s working-age population is projected to rise to 68.9 per cent by 2030. Currently, around three-fourths of those employed have only basic schooling, while the employability rate among graduates stands at 54.8 per cent. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has also rolled out short-duration surveys through the CMS to address immediate policy needs, including two such exercises on telecom and education in 2025.

 

How does the Centre plan to involve states and districts?

 

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship announced in December 2025 that it aims to incentivise districts and states to partner with the industry to address their skill gaps by following a hyper-local approach in a bid to transition to a future-ready workforce, news agency PTI reported.

 

"The idea is hyper-local planning to try and ensure that skill gaps at the district-level and at the division level follow investments... We are going to incentivise districts and states to plan with industries to address local needs. So, hyper-local planning to look at where the clusters are, where our planning needs and how we address those needs," the secretary said.