The Union government is providing fiscal stimulus of more than Rs 27 lakh crore under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package of various schemes and policies for making India self-reliant and to create employment opportunities, Rameswar Teli, Minister of State, Ministry of Labour and Employment said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
As employment generation and improving employability in the country, including rural areas and small towns, is the priority of the government, several multi-pronged strategies are being taken by the Union Government to address employment issues through Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the minister said.
Some of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes are the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Deendayal Antyoday Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), Deendayal Upadhyay-Gramin Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Shyama Prasad Mukherjee RURban Mission and National Career Service (NCS). Several of the schemes and programmes were launched in 2020 and 2021.
Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) of 125 days was launched on June 20, 2020 to boost employment and livelihood opportunities for returnee migrant workers and similarly affected persons, including youth in rural areas, in 116 selected districts across six States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Abhiyaan has achieved an employment generation of 50.78 crore person days with a total expenditure of Rs 39,293 crore, the minister said.
Aatmanirbhar Bharat RojgarYojana (ABRY) was launched on October 1, 2020, as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat package 3.0 to incentivize employers for creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic. This scheme is being implemented through the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The scheme seeks to reduce the financial burden of the employers and encourages them to hire more workers. The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries has been extended from 30.06.2021 to 31.03.2022. Benefits of Rs 3,435 crore have been provided to 46.89 lakh beneficiaries through 1.26 lakh establishments till 29.01.2022, the minister said.
Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme was launched on June 1, 2020 to provide working capital loans to Street Vendors, vending in urban areas, to resume their businesses, which were impacted adversely due to COVID-19. Under this scheme, credit worth Rs 3,054 crore to 30.2 lakh street vendors was received as on 30.11.2021, the MoS said.
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is being implemented for facilitating self-employment. Under PMMY, collateral free loans up to Rs 10 lakh are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to set up or expand their business activities. Up to 21.01.2022, Rs 32.12 crore loans were sanctioned under the scheme. The Production Linked Incentive Schemes being implemented by the Government have potential for creating 60 lakh new jobs.
PM Gati Shakti is a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. The approach is driven by seven engines, namely, Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways and Logistics Infrastructure. This approach is powered by Clean Energy and Sabka Prayas.
The minister said that the Government of India is encouraging various projects involving substantial investment and public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Deen Dayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs etc. for employment generation.
Various other flagship programmes of the Government such as Make in India, Digital India, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Housing for All, Infrastructure Development and Industrial Corridors are also oriented towards generating employment opportunities across the country, Rameswar Teli informed the Lower House.
