Lok Sabha Question No. 2749 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-12
Subject: New National Employment Policy
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: SHOBHA KARANDLAJE, PRATHAP SIMHA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2749 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12 TH  MARCH, 2018

## NEW NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT POLICY

## 2749.   KUMARI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE: SHRI PRATHAP SIMHA:

## Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is framing a new Sector-wise National Employment  Policy  to  address  the  crucial  issue  of  job  creation  in  the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Ministry  has  held  consultations  with    various  Ministries  in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is aware that huge job losses of engineers and skilled workers in IT, Telecom, Steel, Engineering and Mining, are posing a new challenge to the country's growing unemployment market and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the new Policy will  include  incentives  for  employers  to  create more jobs, reforms to attract enterprises and help for MSME industries, which are major job providers and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Policy is expected to take up the twin  issues of providing quality  jobs  to  over  10  Million  youth  being  added  to  the  country's workforce every year and ensuring that more of these are created in the formal sector and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a)  to  (e):  An  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  has  been  constituted  to  draft  the National  Employment  Policy  and  consultations  have  been  held  with  various stakeholders  including  Ministries,  State  Governments,  Trade  Unions,  Industry Associations etc. for inputs to the Policy. International Labour Organization (ILO) has recently been involved for formulation of the National Employment Policy.

According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM),  the  half  yearly  financial  reports  of  major  IT  companies  indicate  a decline in employment. The drop in the recruitment by the IT industry this fiscal year is due to several factors which inter-alia include :

-  Some  of the less complex, standard and repetitive jobs are being automated ;
-  Companies  are  improving  their  employee-utilisation  levels  and  reducing bench strength ; and
-  Companies are employing people with specialised skillsets in newer areas such as data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence and internetof-things.    The  growth  rate  in  these  technologies  and  the  nature  of  the business do not necessitate large-scale hiring.

As per NASSCOM, the Indian IT-BPM industry is expected to continue to be a net hirer and currently employs nearly 3.9 million people in this fiscal, an addition of 173,000 over last year.

According  to  NASSCOM  the  IT-BPM  industry,  both  globally  and  in  India,  is witnessing unprecedented changes in technology. Current trend observed is the automation  of  entire  sets  of  activities  that  are  simple,  standardised  and  rulebased.  As  a  result,  few  job  roles  are  expected  to  become  redundant  over  the medium- to long-term.  Driven by the impact of disruptive technologies - social, cloud,  mobile,  analytics,  AI  etc,  the  IT-BPM  industry  in  India  is  fundamentally transforming  its  business  model  and  building  new  offerings  to  emerge  as  the digital solutions partner. This structural change in the sector requires re-skilling, domain  knowledge  and  enhanced  technology  competencies.   However,  these changes also  mean  that  new  sets  of  skills  are  needed  and  as  such,  these  are throwing up opportunities for newer job roles. The  stakeholders  covering  industry,  academia  and  Sector  Skills  Councils  are working to ensure that the existing workforce is re-skilled/up-skilled in emerging technologies  and  job  roles.  Most  companies  (large,  medium  &  small)  are  also implementing rigorous training programs to re-skill/up-skill their existing employees in new and emerging technologies. the Government  of  India.  Government  is  implementing  the  following  Schemes  for

Job generation in MSME  sector cuts across different Ministries of enterprise creation and job generation:

(i) Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP): This is a creditlinked  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.  The  Scheme  was  launched  during 2008-09. A total of 4.49 lakh micro enterprises have been assisted with a margin money subsidy of Rs 9416.02 crore providing employment to an estimated 37.57 lakh persons since PMEGP's inception till 31.12.2017.

(ii)  Scheme  of  Fund  for  Regeneration  of  Traditional  Industries  (SFURTI):  It  is  a cluster-based  scheme  for  development  of  khadi,  village  industries  and  coir clusters by providing them with improved equipments, common facilities centers, business  development  services,  training,  capacity  building  and  design  and marketing support, etc. SFURTI Scheme has been revamped. A total assistance of Rs. 139.58 crore has been released benefitting 59,900 artisans.

(iii)  A  Scheme for Promotion of Innovation, Rural Industry and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE): was launched on 18.3.2015 to set up a network of technology centres and  to  set  up  incubation  centres  to  accelerate  entrepreneurship  and  also  to promote  start-ups  for  innovation  and  entrepreneurship  in  agro-industry.  Under ASPIRE, 62 Livelihood Business Incubation (LBI) centres have been approved.

(iv)  Khadi  and  Village  Industry  Commission  (KVIC):  Ministry  of  MSME  through KVIC is implementing various schemes to encourage Khadi and village industry sector.  During  the  FY  2017-18,  employment  generated in  the  Khadi  and  Village Industry sector is estimated at 138.74 lakhs.

(v) Coir Board: Ministry of MSME through Coir Board is also implementing various Schemes/programmes through its field level offices to assist entrepreneurs to set up new Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in all coconut producing States. More than 7 lakh employment has been generated in the Coir Sector.

(vi)  Credit  Guarantee  Scheme  for  Micro  and  Small  Enterprises  (CGTMSE):  The scheme  facilitates  credit  to  the  MSE  units  by  covering  collateral  free  credit facility (term loan and /or working capital) extended by eligible lending institutions  to  new  and  existing  micro  and  small  enterprises.  The  corpus  of CGTMSE has been enhanced from Rs. 2500 crore to 7500 crore. The Scheme has extended guarantee cover to over 28 lakh enterprises leading to huge employment generation.

(vii)  Micro  &  Small  Enterprises  Cluster  Development  Programme  (MSE-CDP)  Ministry launched MSE-CDP for holistic development of selected MSEs clusters. Scheme provides for creation  of  tangible  'assets'  as  Common  Facility  Centers (CFCs) like Common Production/Processing Centre (for balancing/correcting/improving  production  line  that  cannot  be  undertaken  by individual units), Design Centres, Testing Facilities, Training Centre,  R&D Centres,  Effluent  Treatment  Plant,  Marketing  Display/Selling  Centre,  Common Logistics Centre, Common Raw Material Bank/Sales Depot, etc.

(viii) MSME-Tool Rooms/Technology Development Centre (MSME-TRs/TDCs): 18  MSME-Tool  Rooms/TDCs  have  been  setup  across  the  country  to  assist enterprises  in  their  technological  upgradation  by  providing  precision  toolings, trained manpower & consultancy in the area of tool & die making etc. During FY 2017-18  upto  31.12.2017,  these  centres  have  trained  1,07,070  persons  with commensurate employment generation.

(ix) Credit linked Capital subsidy Scheme (CLCSS): CLCSS facilitates technology upgradation of small scale industries, including agro & rural industrial units by providing  15%  upfront  capital  subsidy  (limited  to  maximum  of  Rs.15.00  lakhs). Since inception and upto 30.11.2017, a total of 48,618 units have been assisted utilizing subsidy of Rs. 2904.53 crore.

A Scheme called 'Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana' has been initiated by the  Government  in  the  year  2016-17  for  incentivising  industry  for  promoting employment  generation.  Under  this  scheme  employers  would  be  provided  an incentive to enhance employment where the Government will pay the employer's contribution of 8.33% EPS made to new employees. In textiles (apparel and madeups)  sector,  the  Government  will  also  pay  the  3.67%  EPF  contribution  of employers in addition. Government has also announced a booster package of Rs 6000 crores for the textile sector which is an employment intensive sector.

Government has also implemented the National Career Service Project providing a  package  of  employment  related  services  inter-alia  consisting  of  a  portal (www.ncs.gov.in) for online registration and posting of jobs for job-seekers.

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