RAJYA SABHA
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH
91. SHRI RAJMANI PATEL
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:
(a) whether any action has been taken by Government to provide employment opportunities to the youth of the rural areas of the country particularly after second wave lockdown due to the COVID- 19 pandemic;
(b) whether Government has any concrete plan for re-employment of those who have lost their employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
(c) if so, the details of the sectors for their re-employment and in what manner they will be re-employed?
(SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *91 DUE FOR REPLY ON 28-07-2021 REGARDING “EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH” BY SHRI RAJMANI PATEL, M.P.
(a) to (c) Government has taken several initiatives to address the challenges and threats posed by Covid-19 pandemic. Financial package of more than Rs. Twenty seven lakh crore under “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat” has been provided inter-alia, to create employment opportunities including for the youth of the rural areas of the country.
In order to boost employment opportunity in the wake of COVID-19 related lockdown, Government of India had launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) of 125 days on 20th June, 2020 to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for returnee migrant workers and similarly affected persons including youth in rural areas, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of the Abhiyaan were to provide immediate employment & livelihood opportunities to the distressed, to saturate the villages with public infrastructure and creation of livelihood assets to boost the income generation activities and enhance long term livelihood opportunities by giving focus on 25 works (including works under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) in 116 selected districts across 6 States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A total of 50.78 crore persondays employment has been generated during the Abhiyaan.
Apart from these, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) being implemented by Ministry of Rural Development is a demand driven wage employment programme, which provides for at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. During previous financial year 2020-21, 11.19 crore persons were provided employment and more than 389.23 crore person-days were generated. In current financial year 2021-22 (as on 26.07.2021), 6.64 crore persons have been provided employment and more than 133.99 crore person-days have been generated under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS.
Ministry of Rural Development is also implementing two skill development programmes for rural youth namely, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) for increasing employability of rural youth either through wage or self-employment.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is implementing its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), under Skill India Mission, for skill based training of the youth across the country including those from rural areas under Short Term Training (STT) courses and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) has been launched w.e.f. 1st October, 2020 to incentivize employers for creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of employment. This scheme being implemented through Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) seeks to reduce the financial burden of the employers and encourages them to hire more workers. Under ABRY, Government of India is providing for a period of two years, both the employees’ share (12% of wages) and employers share’ (12% of wages) of contribution or only employees’ share of contribution depending on employment strength of the EPFO registered establishments, for new employees whose monthly wage is less than Rs. 15,000/- per month. The new employees under the scheme include those who lost their jobs during Covid-19 and didn’t join in any EPF covered establishment upto 30.09.2020. The terminal date for registration of beneficiary under the scheme has been extended from 30th June, 2021 to 31st March, 2022 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.