Lok Sabha Question No. 2078 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-08
Subject: Job Opportunities
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: D.K. Suresh

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2078 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH   MARCH, 2021

## JOB OPPORTUNITIES

2078. SHRI D.K. SURESH:

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

(a) whether the Government is taking serious measures to provide adequate job opportunities to people especially women in the country; and

(b) if so, the details thereof including the total number of schemes introduced to create job opportunities in the country and the details of the scheme, yearwise?

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

(a) to (b): Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the Government. Government has taken various steps for generating employment  in  the  country  including  for  women  like  encouraging  various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes  like  Prime  Minister's  Employment  Generation  Programme  (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deendayal  Antodaya  Yojana-National  Urban  Livelihoods  Mission  (DAY-NULM) run  by  Ministry  of  Micro,  Small  &  Medium  Enterprises,  Ministry  of  Rural Development  and  Ministry  of  Housing  &  Urban  Affairs,  respectively.  The progress of the schemes/ programmes is as follows:

| Schemes/Year                                        | 2019-20   | 2020-21                   |
|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------|---------------------------|
| Employment generated under PMEGP (No. of persons)   | 533224    | 255384 (As on 31.12.2020) |
| Persondays Generated under MGNREGS(in lakh)         | 26,542    | 31,748 (As on 28.01.2021) |
| Candidates placed under DDU-GKY (No. of candidates) | 150199    | 38359 (Till Jan., 2021)   |

Source: Concerned Ministries

Government has taken several initiatives to improve women's participation in the  labour  force.  In  order  to  encourage  employment  of  women,  a  number  of protective  provisions  have  been  incorporated  in  the  labour  laws  for  creating congenial work environment for women workers. These include enhancement in  paid  maternity  leave  from  12  weeks  to  26  weeks,  provision  for  mandatory crèche facility in the establishments having 50 or more employees, permitting women  workers  in  the  night  shifts  with  adequate  safety  measures,  etc.

Government  has  taken  a  decision  to  allow  the  employment  of  women  in  the aboveground mines including opencast workings between 7 pm and 6 am and in below ground working between 6 am and 7 pm in technical, supervisory and managerial work where continuous presence may not be required. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 now subsumed in the Code on Wages, 2019 provides that there shall be no discrimination in an establishment or any unit thereof among employees on the ground of gender in matters relating to wages by the same employer, in respect of the same work or work of similar nature done by any employee. Further, no employer shall make any discrimination on the ground of sex while recruiting any employee for the same work or work of similar nature in the conditions of employment, except where the employment of women in such work is prohibited or restricted by or under any law for the time being in force. Further, in order to enhance  the employability of female workers, the Government  is  providing  training  to  them  through  a  network  of  Women Industrial Training institutes,  National Vocational  Training Institutes  and

Regional Vocational Training Institutes.

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