|
| Govt mulls job guarantee scheme in cities |
| Press Trust Of India / New Delhi Feb 23, 2009, 00:44 IST |
|
Aiming to check unemployment caused by the economic downturn, the government is planning to come out with an employment guarantee scheme for urban areas on the pattern of NREGS.
Officials of the labour ministry said some high-level discussions have already been convened over the proposed scheme and major outlines have already been drawn.
The proposal was also discussed and debated during the recently concluded 42nd Indian Labour Conference, also called India’s labour parliament, and a recommendation has been made to the government.
Noting that the proposal has the backing of her ministry, Labour and Employment Secretary Sudha Pillai told PTI that some high-level discussions have already taken place for adopting the scheme.
“We are contemplating that it can be taken up by the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation in consonance with its Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) projects already underway in various cities. The move will also counter reverse migration to rural areas,” Pillai said.
CITU President M K Pandhe said the proposal was renewed by trade unions in view of job losses and gloomy situation for workers in the construction sector.
“With this view, the government has been proposed to take up construction and road maintenance activities in urban areas during the annual labour conference,” Pandhe said.
“This is a good time to improve the condition of our cities and roads and I am quite positive that the government will take up this recommendation. During the conference several state governments also expressed interest in initiating such a scheme,” Pillai said.
Earlier, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes also said the government is considering coming up with a scheme “similar to the NREGS”.
Asked for a time frame by when the announcement could be expected, Fernandes had said that views are being taken from other ministries as well for checking the viability for such a scheme.
The UPA government had introduced the NREGS and made it a priority for reducing poverty in rural areas. The scheme is being administered by the Ministry of Rural Development.
A recent sample survey by the labour ministry suggested that at least 500,000 jobs were lost during October to December 2008, while trade unions estimate that more than 2 million job losses had occurred in the unorganised sector and mostly in the construction field.
An ILO report on global trend of employment had predicted 18 million job losses and had called for suitable “labour intensive” measures to check poverty alleviation caused by these job losses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
