Varun Gandhi pitches for national employment grid

BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Tuesday urged the government to make the Budget process more consultative and pitched for creation of National Employment Grid and unconditional basic income for poor.

Participating in the debate on Budget in Lok Sabha, he said there is no directive to the Minimum Wage Act of 1948 though India was one of the first developing countries to pass this Act.

"In the 1920s, during the time of Raja-Maharaja's, 1 per cent of them held 25 per cent of country's wealth, but today 1 per cent of Indians hold 75 per cent of the nation's wealth," he said.

The Pilibhit MP said the government should try to make the Budget-making process more consultative, citing the example of Brazilian city Porto Alegre.

He said the government should announce the national floor level minimum wage and sought the creation of National Employment Grid.

He also sought that the government should make provisions for unconditional basic income to poor and implement for farmers the Right to Sell at MSP.

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