Telangana, Bihar stand out in district-level ‘NEET’ map

Reports coming in for today mention that Telangana and Bihar, among India’s wealthiest and poorest states, respectively, stand out for having multiple districts with some of the country’s highest shares of young people who are neither in employment, education or training (NEET), a Moneycontrol analysis of data reveals.

The findings are based on the National Statistical Office’s first district-level labour market estimates from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025.

Pashchim Champaran in Bihar recorded a NEET rate of 43.6 percent, while Bhadradri Kothagudem in Telangana noted 42.7 percent. Both were among the highest readings in the country.

North Delhi had an even elevated rate of 44.3 percent, the highest among districts presented in the state-wise snapshot.

North Delhi is a coaching hub that offers classes for civil services and other competitive examinations.

But Bihar and Telangana stand out because high NEET rates are not confined to just one district.

In Bihar, Saran noted a NEET rate of 40 percent, Purba Champaran 38.1 percent and Madhubani 36.7 percent, apart from Pashchim Champaran’s 43.6 percent. Even Patna, which had the lowest rate among the 10 Bihar districts shown in the report, had a NEET rate of 30.5 percent.

At the state level, Bihar’s NEET rate stood at 32.1 percent.

Telangana’s high-income paradox

Telangana, which is on the other end of the economic spectrum, has a similar district-level challenge.

Bhadradri Kothagudem recorded a NEET rate of 42.7 percent, followed by Khammam at 38.2 percent, Nizamabad at 31.6 percent and Vikarabad at 30.3 percent.

The state-wide NEET rate was considerably softer at 26.2 percent, illustrating how state averages can conceal large differences within states. Kamareddy, for instance, had a NEET rate of only 18.4 percent.

High NEET rates spread across states

The problem, that stated, is not limited to Bihar and Telangana.

Baleshwar in Odisha noted a NEET rate of 41 percent, while Jajapur stood at 37.5 percent.

Solan in Himachal Pradesh recorded a rate of 39 percent despite a state-wide NEET rate of just 20.5 percent. The contrast within the state was particularly sharp. Chamba had a NEET rate of only 7.7 percent, while a combined stratum comprising Lahul & Spiti, Bilaspur and Kinnaur had a rate of 4.8 percent.

West Bengal additionally had several districts with elevated NEET rates. Paschim Medinipur noted 38.2 percent, Hooghly 36.8 percent and Nadia 36 percent, compared with a state average of 29.9 percent. Kolkata, by contrast, had a rate of 21.9 percent.

In Punjab, Gurdaspur recorded a NEET rate of 36.4 percent and Amritsar 33.9 percent, while Haryana’s Sirsa stood out at 36.3 percent.

The district numbers broadly mirror Bihar’s elevated state-wide NEET rate.

At 32.1 percent, Bihar had a considerably elevated NEET rate than Telangana’s 26.2 percent, Maharashtra’s 21.9 percent, Karnataka’s 20.8 percent and Gujarat’s 19.7 percent among states covered in the report.