The Hindu : Page 04
Syllabus : GS 3 : Indian Economy
The first Budget of the third Narendra Modi government focuses on addressing rising unemployment and job losses with five schemes totaling ₹2 lakh crore.
- These schemes aim to generate jobs, incentivize employment, and enhance skilling opportunities for youth, with significant support measures linked to EPFO enrolment and training initiatives.
- The first Budget of the third Narendra Modi government prioritises employment and skilling amid rising unemployment and job losses, proposing five schemes with a ₹2 lakh crore outlay to generate jobs for youth.
- Three schemes under the Prime Minister’s package focus on “employment-linked incentive” based on EPFO enrolment, targeting first-time employees and providing support to employees and employers.
- One scheme offers a direct benefit transfer of one-month salary in three instalments to newly employed workers registered in the EPFO, up to ₹15,000, benefiting 210 lakh youth with a salary eligibility limit of ₹1 lakh per month.
- The Ministry of Textiles’ 2016 special package for the apparel sector aimed to generate one crore jobs in three years, with the government covering the entire 12% EPFO contribution for new employees earning less than ₹15,000 per month for the first three years.
- S.K. Sundararaman, Chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association, emphasised the need for consistency and long-term implementation of such schemes for success.
- The second scheme incentivizes additional employment in the manufacturing sector, linked to first-time employees’ EPFO contributions in the first four years, benefiting 30 lakh youth and their employers.
- The third scheme covers additional employment in all sectors, with the government reimbursing employers up to ₹3,000 per month for two years towards EPFO contributions for each additional employee.
- The fourth scheme aims to skill 20 lakh youth over five years by upgrading 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes in hub-and-spoke arrangements with outcome orientation.
- The fifth scheme offers internship opportunities for one crore youth in 500 top companies over five years, providing an internship allowance of ₹5,000 per month and a one-time assistance of ₹6,000.
- Trade union leader Amarjeet Kaur critiqued the proposals as focusing on ease of doing business and benefiting corporate houses, while emphasising skilling over job creation for the already skilled but unemployed.
UPSC Prelims PYQ : 2016
Ques : Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana is aimed at :
(a) bringing the small entrepreneurs into formal financial system
(b) providing loans to poor farmers for cultivating particular crops
(c) providing pensions to old and destitute persons
(d) funding the voluntary organizations involved in the promotion of skill development and employment generation
Ans: (a)
