Key announcements for youth development and welfare in Budget 2026–27

Jaipur, February 2026 : In line with the vision of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, the Budget 2026–27 presented in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly will strengthen initiatives for the welfare and empowerment of the poor, youth, food providers, and women power (GYAN). The budget makes essential provisions to create ample opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship for the state’s large youth population. This will also energize youth power to help realize the State Government’s vision of Developed Rajasthan–2047.

To realize the Chief Minister’s objective that “youth should become job providers, not job seekers,” the Chief Minister Youth Self-Employment Scheme will offer facilities such as 100% interest subsidy and margin money subsidy on loans up to ₹10 lakh for one lakh youths. For this, the State Government has made provisions exceeding ₹1,000 crore and set a target to benefit 30,000 youths under the scheme.

Startup development; ‘Vibrant Program’ in every district—
For the development of startups by talented students, the ‘Vibrant Program’ will be run in selected colleges of each district with the support of knowledge partners. Similarly, college students require employment-oriented skills, career guidance, and digital mentoring. For this purpose, the ‘Dream Program’ will be implemented to provide technology-enabled counseling. To realize the vision of a drug-free Rajasthan, provisions have been made to run the ‘Rajsevera’ program.

Online testing-enabled test centers for exams throughout the week—
Due to firm decisions taken by the Chief Minister, incidents of paper leaks have been curbed over the past more than two years. To maintain and further strengthen transparency in competitive examinations, the Rajasthan State Testing Agency (RSTA) will be established. Provisions have also been made for constructing online testing-enabled test centers to conduct declared and ongoing recruitment examinations on all days of the week, thereby avoiding unnecessary disruption to academic activities in educational institutions.

Stronger skilling ecosystem; foreign language training for youth—
In Budget 2026–27, the objective is to strengthen the skilling ecosystem, provide quality training, develop youth skills, and make them employment-oriented. For this, the state will introduce an Outcome-Based Skill Impact Bond for the first time, under which payments will be made only upon meeting placement-based benchmarks. For global opportunities in customer-centric sectors such as hospitality, IT, and health services, 1,000 youths will be trained in English, French, Japanese, German, and Korean. Additionally, 20,000 experienced workers in the unorganized sector will undergo trade-wise assessment and certification through Recognition of Prior Learning.

₹30 crore provision for ‘Techno Hubs’ in Ajmer, Bharatpur, and Kota—
Major provisions include establishing an Institute of Skill Development and Vocational Training in every district to make youth self-reliant, launching the iStart Ambassador Program for mentoring and scaling emerging startups, and setting up next-generation Techno Hubs—with tinkering labs, deep-tech labs, data and AI labs—in Ajmer, Bharatpur, and Kota at a cost of ₹30 crore.

Vocational education in schools to promote entrepreneurship—
The National Education Policy–2020 emphasizes integrating vocational education with school education and promoting the dignity of labor. In this direction, special provisions have been made to make education employment-oriented. In addition to the existing 4,019 schools, vocational education will be introduced in 500 more schools from the coming session, with a provision of ₹51.10 crore. Under the ‘School to Work’ vocational education program, one school in each district will be upgraded to an advanced vocational higher secondary school.

Self-employment for SC–ST youth—
Along with youth welfare provisions in Budget 2026–27, several schemes are already in operation. Under the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Rajasthan Dalit Tribal Entrepreneurship Promotion Scheme (BRUPY), by December 2025–26, a total of 1,022 loan applications were approved, benefiting 890 applicants with loans amounting to ₹222.95 crore. The budget sets a target to benefit 2,500 people under this scheme. Similarly, under the Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion Scheme, loans worth ₹764.43 crore were approved for 706 units by December 2025.

Target of creating 15 lakh jobs under Rajasthan Employment Policy–2026—
Through the Rajasthan Employment Policy–2026, the State Government aims to create 15 lakh employment opportunities by March 2029 via self-employment, wage-based employment, and entrepreneurship. Likewise, the Rajasthan Youth Policy–2026 provides a comprehensive roadmap to strongly develop youth capabilities. The Vishwakarma Youth Entrepreneur Promotion Scheme is realizing the dream of youth self-employment, while the Rajasthan Skill Policy–2025 is ensuring enhanced employability and income for youth through skill training and vocational education.