Lok Sabha Question No. 8 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-18
Subject: Job Loss during Lockdown
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Malook Nagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 8 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 TH  JULY, 2022

## JOB LOSS DURING LOCKDOWN

## 8.  SHRI MALOOK NAGAR:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  made  any  plan  to  provide  jobs  to  the employees of companies, factories, industries, malls, shops, etc. media personnel who lost their jobs during the Corona pandemic and nationwide lockdown and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether  the  Government has formulated any plan to implement a new law for providing protection to such employees and to provide any kind of financial assistance to them; and
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  formulated  any  law  in  respect  of  such employees and labourers who have not yet received wages in full and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a)  to  (c):  The  Government  of  India  has  announced  Aatmanirbhar  Bharat package to provide stimulus to business and to mitigate the adverse impact of Covid 19. Under this package, the Government is providing fiscal stimulus of  more  than  Rs.  Twenty  Seven  lakh  crore.  This  package  comprises  of various  long  term  schemes/  programmes/  policies  for  making  the  country self-reliant and to create employment opportunities.

The Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) has been launched with effect from 1st October, 2020 to incentivize employers for creation of new employment and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic. The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries was 31.03.2022. Benefits  have  been  provided  to  59.53  lakh  beneficiaries  through  1.50  lakh establishments in till 10.07.2022.

Government had launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) of 125 days on 20th June, 2020 to boost employment and livelihood opportunities  for  returnee  migrant  workers  and  similarly  affected  persons including  youth  in  rural  areas,  in  116  selected  districts  across  6  States  of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Budget 2021-22 launched Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore, for a period of 5 years starting from 2021-22. All these initiatives are expected to collectively generate employment and boost output in the medium to long term through multipliereffects. Pradhan  Mantri  Mudra  Yojana  (PMMY)  is  being  implemented  by  the Government  for  facilitating  self-employment.  Under  PMMY,  collateral  free loans upto Rs. 10 lakh, are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities. Besides these initiatives, various flagship programmes of the Government such as Make in India, Start-up India, Digital India, Smart City Mission,  Atal  Mission  for  Rejuvenation  and  Urban  Transformation,  Prime Minister's  Employment  Generation  Programme  (PMEGP),  Mahatma  Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya  Grameen  Kaushalya  Yojana  (DDU-GKY),  Deen  Dayal  Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) etc. are also oriented towards generating employment opportunities. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020, notified on 29 th  September, 2020 envisages  that  at  the  time  of  retrenchment,  the  workers  will  be  paid compensation  which  shall  be  equivalent  to  fifteen  days'  average  pay,  or average pay of such days as may be notified by the appropriate Government for  every  completed  year  of  continuous  service.  In  addition,  the  Code  also sets up a re-skilling fund for training of retrenched workers. The fund shall consist  of  the  contribution  of  the  employer  of  an  amount  equal  to  fifteen days' wages last drawn by the worker immediately before the retrenchment or such other number of days, as may be notified by the Central Government and such other sources as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government. The fund shall be utilised by crediting fifteen days' wages last drawn by the worker to his account who is retrenched, within forty-five days of the retrenchment as may be prescribed. The  Code  on  Wages,  2019  mandates  the  Central  Government  to  fix floor wage applicable across the Central and the State sphere. The removal of the Schedule for the applicability of the Minimum Wages and removal of the specified industries & ceiling of Rs. 24000/- per month for the payment of wages in the wage code will protect the wages and ensure full payment of wages to employees.

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