Blog: Thank You, Shri Mahtabji

Monday, 9 August 2021

Thank You, Shri Mahtabji

( Shri Mahtab Bhartruhariji– Minister for Labor / bhartruhari.mahtab@gmail.com )

What for ?

For accepting my suggestion

What suggestion ?

To introduce an Urban Job Guarantee Scheme along the lines of MGNREGA

Where reported ?

An Urban Job Guarantee Scheme is the need of the hour / Business Line / 10 Aug 2021

( Authors : CP Chandrashekhar / Jayati Ghosh )

Extract :

Ø The Standing Committee on Labour stated in its report of August 3, 2021 that “there is an imperative need for putting in place an Employment Guarantee Programme for the urban workforce in line with MGNREGA.”

When did you make this suggestion ?

2 YEARS ago, through my following e-mail request to Shri Modiji :

Ø MGNREGA : Can it morph into UBI ? ………………….[ 11 May 2020 ]

Extract :

Ø MGNREGA should be re-named, MGNRUGA ( Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Urban Employment Guarantee Act )

Ø Besides RURAL households, it should cover URBAN households as well

Ø Besides “ Unskilled Manual Work “, it must also cover “ Semi-skilled / Skilled “

work as well

Ø The daily wages payable , must be the “ Minimum Wage “ at the start of each

Skill level grade and periodically revised upward, depending upon CPI

Ø Number of “ Guaranteed Days of Work Employment / year “ should be :

# Rural Areas ……………………….. 300 days ( up from current 100 days )

# Urban Areas :

Class II towns ………………… 200 days

Class I Cities…………………… 100 days

Ø On MGNRUGA website , there will be provision for,

# Jobless persons to register ( providing full personal data / job locations

preferred / Skill level / prior experience etc )

# Companies / Establishments to register, providing full details of vacancies

# Match-making / Allocation etc

Ø If an Urban establishment provides work to any of the REGISTERED

UNEMPLOYED referred by MGNRUGA web site, it will not be required to pay

wages ( to those persons ), for periods mentioned above

For them, the wages will get paid directly by the Ministry subsidizing , at rates

prescribed under the Act ( DBT ) . Any wages paid in excess , will have to be

borne by the establishment concerned

This “ Wage Subsidy “ will be available ONLY to those establishments, who

install in their premises, Mobile-based Attendance System , as described at :

From BAD to MAD [ 01 June 2016 ]

MAD goes to Mandi [ 02 Jan 2020 ]

HOW WILL THIS HELP ?

Ø This modification of Scheme will cover jobless persons, all over India – not only Rural India

Ø The scheme as it stands now, covers “ works “ related only to ,

# Soil and Water Conservation

# Ground Water Recharge

# Irrigation

# Drainage

# Plantation

# Land……. Etc

My suggestion will extend the scheme to cover urban offices / factories /

shops etc, where millions have been rendered jobless due to lockdown

Ø Current rural schemes have to be monitored by govt officers / panchayat

office-bearers, who may lack supervision skills and / or lack “ motivation “ to

ensure that each MGNREGA worker puts in honest / hard / productive work,

at the end of the day !

As against this, when organized / profit driven establishments ( in Urban

setting ) are supervising such workers, productivity of “ Asset Generation “,

will be very high !

{ Read : https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/11/discovering-

obvious.html }

Ø Because of this Wage Subsidy ( better name it CORONA EMPATHY – so as

not to run foul of WTO ) , MSME will revive faster , with less worry for Cash

Flow . Products will become cheaper

Ø By providing jobs and enabling people to earn their own living , there will be

no need for Delhi-type “ doles “ – which are unsustainable in long run

Ø This ( scheme ) overcomes the major objections against UBI ( Universal

Basic Income ), viz :

# How to decide whom ( defining “ poor “ is difficult ), to give UBI

# People will become too dependent on “ Sarkar Maa-Baap “ and become

lazy / stop looking for work

Ø It is better than the Unemployment Allowance of USA ( now for 33 million

persons, sitting at home )

Dear Shri Narendrabhai,

It is time to think about a PERMANENT SOLUTION to this problem of UN-EMPLOYMENT { even beyond COVID }

Please consider my suggestion

1 comment :

bhuvana12 May 2020 at 01:43

Nice suggestion. Hope it gets implemented soon. The plight of labourers across the country is really pathetic.

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With regards,

Hemen parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 10 Aug 2021