Job creation under govt schemes declines

PM-SVANidhi Scheme has facilitated collateral free working capital loan up to Rs 10,000 for one-year tenure to street vendors, to help them resume their businesses.

Employment generation under two government-run schemes — Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deen Dayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) — have fallen steeply in the Covid-hit 2020-21 over the previous fiscal, while it increased under a third scheme, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), by around 11%.

DDU-GKY is a placement-linked skill development programme for wage employment, run by the ministry of rural development. Employment generation under the scheme fell to just 50,000 in 2020-21 compared with 1.5 lakh in 2019-20, minister of state for labour and employment Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Monday.

DAY-NULM, a scheme being implemented by the ministry of housing and urban affairs, is aimed at removing poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households. Employment generation, under the scheme, fell to just 7,000 in 2020-21 from 72,000 a year ago.

PMEGP, being implemented by ministry of micro, small and medium enterprise, is a credit-linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector by helping traditional artisans and unemployed youth.

A total of 5.95 lakh such people got benefitted from the scheme in 2020-21 compared with 5.33 lakh in 2019-20, Teli said in the answer quoting data from the respective ministry.

Employment generation is a priority for the government. To offset the impact on Covid-19 on job, it launched a number of initiatives to promote employment generation in the country. Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojona (ABRY) is one such initiative under which government incentivises employers for creation of new employment. As on November 20, a total of 39.43 lakh beneficiaries benefitted out of the scheme.

PM-SVANidhi Scheme has facilitated collateral free working capital loan up to Rs 10,000 for one-year tenure to street vendors, to help them resume their businesses.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) for facilitating self-employment. Under PMMY collateral free loans up to Rs 10 lakh are extended to micro and small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to set up or expand their business activities.

Besides 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, Infrastructure development and Industrial corridors and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme are also oriented to generate productive employment opportunities.