Expenditure on Atmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY), aimed at encouraging job creation, and on the ongoing creation of a national database of unorganised workers was proposed to be increased in the Budget Estimate for 2022-2023 on Tuesday.
The Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed increasing the Labour and Employment Ministry’s expenditure from ₹13,306.50 crore in BE 2021-2022 to ₹16,893.68 crore.
For ABRY, which was launched post the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the Budget proposed increasing spending from ₹3,130 crore in BE 2021-2022 to ₹6,400 crore in BE 2022-2023. Under the scheme, the government pays the employees’ share of EPF for new employees with a salary of under ₹15,000 a month.
The Ministry’s ongoing project to register unorganised sector workers through the e-Shram portal was given an increased outlay from ₹150 crore in BE 2021-2011 to ₹500 crore in BE 2022-2023.