Just came across following news report in today’s
Economic Times :
Highlights :
Ø Jharkhand
is set to become the first state to launch an employment guarantee scheme for urban poor on the
lines of the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Act.
Ø The
scheme, Mukhyamantri Shramik Yojna,
will guarantee 100 days of work in a year for urban unskilled labourers.
The new scheme would have a provision to pay an unemployment allowance if the
state fails to provide 100 days of work.
Ø It
says that if the person doesn't get work within 15 days of asking, he or she
should be liable to unemployment allowance which would be one
fourth of the minimum wages in the first month.
In
case the person doesn't get work in the second and third months, the allowance
would be half of the minimum wages in the second month and equal to the minimum
wages in the third month.
The
wages would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of labourers within 15
days
======================================================
A little over a month
back , I sent following e-mail to all State Chief Ministers :
MGNREGA
: Can it morph into UBI ? ……………………………………………[ 11 May 2020 ]
-
Where I suggested :
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 MGNREGA 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 !
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
======================================================
For recognizing the existence of URBAN POOR and trying to
help them through partial implementation of my suggestion, you deserve
Congratulations ,
Ø Shri
Hemant Soren – CM , Jharkhand (hemant_jh33@yahoo.com
Ø Shri
Naveen Patnaik - CM , Odisha
(cmodisha@nic.in )
======================================================
Considering that URBAN POOR live in towns and cities of
all States, I have no doubt other States will soon launch similar Schemes
I urge the Chief Ministers of these States to consider incorporating
my suggestions
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
hcp@RecruitGuru.com /
22 June 2020