Question : National Employment Policy

(a) whether the Government proposes to draft a National Employment Policy to increase employment opportunities and if so, the details thereof including the terms of reference along with the time by which the said policy is likely be finalized;
(b) whether the new labour welfare codes are yet to be finalised and implemented and if so, the details thereof along with the time by which the same is likely to be finalized and the funds allocated to the rural jobs programme, State/UT-wise;
(c) whether a large number of jobs have been lost particularly in the informal and unorganised sector, due to the covid pandemic and if so, the details thereof along with necessary steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government;
(d) whether workers are facing challenges during registration, including due to the mandated use of Aadhaar-linked mobile numbers, on the e-Shram portal and if so, necessary steps taken by the Government in this regard along with the number of workers registered till date, State/UT-wise; and
(e) the benefits for unorganised sector workers to get enrolled in e-shram portal?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)




(a) At present there is no Committee for drafting of National Employment Policy. In order to study various facets of the employment & unemployment scenario in the country, the Government has launched three surveys viz. (i) All-India Quarterly Establishment Based Employment Survey (AQEES); (ii) All India Survey on Migrant Workers; and (ii) All India Survey on Domestic Workers. These surveys will cover both organized & unorganized sectors.

(b) The Government has notified 4 Labour Codes, namely, the Code on Wages, 2019 on 8th August, 2019 and the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 on 29th September,2020. Under the Codes, the power to make rules has been entrusted to Central Government, State Government and appropriate Government. There is a requirement of publication of Rules in their official Gazette for a period of 30 or 45 days for public consultation. As a step towards implementation of the four Labour Codes, the Central Government has published the following draft Rules inviting comments of all stakeholders including general public:-
(i) the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2020
(ii) the Industrial Relation (Central) Rules, 2020,
(iii) the Industrial Relations (Central) Recognition of Negotiating Union or Negotiating Council and Adjudication of Disputes of Trade Unions Rules, 2021,
(iv) the Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2020,
(v) the Code on Social Security (Employee’s Compensation) (Central) Rules, 2021; and
(vi) the Occupational Safety Health & Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2020
(vii) draft Rules under section 16 (5) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
"Labour" is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and under the Labour Codes, rules are required to be framed by the Central Government as well as by the State Governments. The Central Government and some of the States/UTs have pre-published rules under 4 Labour Codes.
Budget allocation of Rs. 73,000 crore has been made for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS) in financial year 2022-23.
Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a demand driven wage employment programme and funds are released to the States/UTs on the basis of "agreed to" Labour Budget (LB) and performance of the States/UTs during the financial year. No financial allocation is made under this demand driven scheme to States/UTs.
(c) As per the Economic Survey 2021-22 analysis on impact of COVID19 pandemic on the labour market using quarterly PLFS reports for urban areas available till March, 2021, before the outbreak of COVID19, the urban labour market had shown signs of improvement in terms of Labour Force Participation Rate( LFPR), Worker Population Ratio(WPR) and Unemployment Rate(UR). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first quarter of 2020-21, the unemployment rate for urban sector rose to 20.8 percent. With the revival of economy in the subsequent quarters of 2020-21, all three labour market indicators i.e. LFPR, WPR and UR showed a swift recovery. The UR gradually declined during this period to reach 9.3 per cent for urban areas in last quarter of 2020-21. The quarterly estimates of LFPR, WPR and UR for urban areas for the year 2019-20 and 2020-21 (upto March, 2021) is provided at Annexure-I.
Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the Government. Government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country like encouraging various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deen dayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) run by Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, respectively.
Besides, Government has also provided fiscal stimulus of more than Rs. Twenty seven lakh crore as part of the Aatma nirbhar Bharat financial Package comprising of various long term schemes/ programmes/policies for making the country self-reliant and to create employment opportunities. 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 leading to huge job and entrepreneurial opportunities for all.

Further to mitigate the problems of workers/job seekers affected by Covid-19 pandemic, Government has also launched Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi) Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA), Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana, for generating employment in the country.
Apart from these initiatives, the 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 are also oriented towards generating employment opportunities.
(d) Besides self-registration on eShram portal, the workers can easily get themselves registered through Commom Service Centres (CSCs) and through State Seva Kendras (SSKs). As on 07.03.2022, 26.47 crore unorganised workers have already been registered on eShram portal. The detail of State wise registration of unorganised workers is given at Annexure-II.

(e) All eligible registered unorganised workers are entitled to get benefit of an accidental insurance cover of Rs. 2.0 Lakh for a year free of cost through Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). The registered workers on eShram are also nudged to take benefit of Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) pension scheme & NPS-Traders pension scheme. The bank accounts of workers on eShram portal are seeded to provide benefit of welfare schemes, if any, directly to their bank account.

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