Lok Sabha Question No. 56 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-29
Subject: Lay-offs of Employees of MNCs and Private Entities
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: A. Chellakumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 56

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2021

## LAY-OFFS OF EMPLOYEES OF MNCS AND PRIVATE ENTITIES

## 56. DR. A. CHALLAKUMAR:

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

- (a)whether there were random lay-offs of employees of the MNCs and private entities in the country since COVID-19 period;
- (b)if so, the monthly report and data on the suspension and termination of staff during the COVID-19 period, i.e. from April 2020 and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)the action taken by the Government with the agencies to continue
- their staff and thereby their facilities thereof; and (d)the reaction of the agencies thereto?

## ANSWER

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

(a) & (b): To deal with complaints/ distress calls arising during COVID-19 pandemic by workers in the Central Sphere, 20 region wise control rooms across the country were set up under the supervision of the  Chief  Labour  Commissioner  (Central).  As  per  the  information available with the office of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) under Ministry of Labour and Employment, a total of 1999 disputes related to termination in Central sphere were resolved at complaint stage during COVID-19  period.  Further,  4,337  workers  were  reinstated  and  72 workers  were  duly  compensated  as  per  the  provisions  of  Industrial Disputes  Act,  1947  during  the  same  period  by  the  interventions  of various regional offices of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central).

(c) & (d): Government  has  launched  Pradhan  Mantri  Garib  Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) for employers for prevention of disruption in employment of low wage earning EPF members, by way of payment of employee's and employer's share of EPF contributions (24% of wages) by  Central  Government.  The  scheme  covers  all  the  establishments having  up  to  100  workers  and  90%  of  such  employees  earning  less than Rs. 15,000 monthly wage.  For the wage period from March, 2020 to  Aug,  2020,  the  scheme  has  helped  2.63  Lakh  establishments  by incentivising  them  to  retain  38.91  lakhs  low  wage  earning  EPF members.  Benefits  amounting  to  Rs.2567.19  crore  were  credited during the period.

On 12.11.2020, the Central Government launched the Aatmanirbhar  Bharat  Rozgar  Yojana  from  01.10.2020  to  incentivize employment  generation  in  EPFO  registered  establishments  during COVID-19 Recovery phase by payment of both employees & employer's contributions i.e. 24%  of wages  in respect of  new  employees in establishments employing up to 1000 employees and only employee's  EPF  contributions  i.e.  12%  of  wages  in  respect  of  new employees  in establishments employing  more  than  1000  employees. The  new  employees  are  those  joining  EPFO  covered  establishments from 01.10.2020 to 31.03.2022 with monthly wage less than Rs.15000/-& includes both the first time employees in EPFO registered establishments    and  those  EPF  members  who  lost  job  during  the pandemic from 01.03.2020 to 30.09.2020.

Further,  Government  is  providing  fiscal  stimulus  of  more than Rs. Twenty seven lakh crore as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat

Financial Package.

Prime  Minister  Street  Vendor's  Atma  Nirbhar  Nidhi  (PM SVANidhi) Scheme was launched on June 01, 2020 to provide working capital loan to Street Vendors, vending in urban areas, to resume their businesses,  which  were  hurt  adversely  due  to  COVID-19  induced lockdown.

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.

The  unemployment  benefit  under  the  Atal  Beemit  Vyakti Kalyan Yojana being implemented by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has been enhanced to 50% from 25% of the average wage, payable upto 90 days, alongwith relaxation of eligibility conditions to claim the benefit.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is being implemented by  the  Government  inter  alia,  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.

In  addition,  RBI  and  Government  of  India  have  introduced measures  to  infuse  liquidity  in  the  economy  to  sustain  the  market economy and raise the level of employment.

The flagship programmes of the Government such as Make in India, Digital India, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Housing for All, Infrastructure development and Industrial corridors and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme are  oriented  to  generate  productive  and  sustainable  employment opportunities.

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