Lok Sabha Question No. 2198 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Dr. T. Sumathy (a) Thamizhachi Thangapandian

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2198 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2021

## URBAN EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME

2198. DR. T. SUMATHY (a) THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN:

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

- (a)whether  is  the  light  of  the  plight  of  migrant  during  COVID,  the Government has decided to launch any urban employment guarantee  scheme  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor;
- (b)the status of the social security scheme for Creation of a National Platform  of  Unorganised  Workers  (seeded  through  Aadhaar)  is  the light  of  the  announcement of launching a portal to collect data of informal unorganised sector workers;
- (c)the reasons for a sharp decline in allocation for the Bima Yojana for unorganised workers from Rs 200 crore to Rs 10 Lakh; and
- (d)the reasons for no allocation to the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana?

## ANSWER

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

- (a): Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is implementing a Centrallysponsored  Scheme  viz.  the  'Deendayal  Antodaya  yojana  -  National Urban  Livelihoods  Mission  (DAY  -  NULM)'  to  reduce  poverty  and vulnerability  of  urban  poor  households  by  enabling  them  to  access gainful  self-employment  and  skilled  wage  employment  opportunities. The  employment  through  Skills  Training  and  Placement  (EST&P) component of the Mission aims to  provide  skills  to the urban poor to

increase their income through structured and market-oriented certified courses that can provide wage  employment  or  self-employment opportunities which will eventually lead to better living standards and alleviation of urban poverty on a sustainable basis. The SelfEmployment Programme (SEP) component focuses on financial assistance  to  individuals/groups/SHGs  of  urban  poor  for  setting  up gainful  self-employment  ventures  or  micro-enterprises.  Furthermore, PM-SVANidhi  Scheme  has  been  launched  to  facilitate  collateral  free working capital loan up to Rs. 10,000/-  for  one  year  tenure  to  street vendors, to help them resume their businesses, which were adversely affected due to Covid - 19 pandemic.

- (b): Ministry of Labour & Employment in technical collaboration with National  Informatics  Centre  (NIC)  is  in  the  process  of  developing  a registration  module  for  creating  a  comprehensive  National  Database for Unorganized Workers (NDUW) seeded with Aadhaar for all Unorganised workers including Construction Workers, Migrant Workers, Gig and Platform workers, Street Vendors, Domestic Workers, Agriculture Workers  and  similar other sub-group of  Unorganised workers.  At  present,  the  process  for  dry  run  and  security  audit  is underway. The project is expected to commence the registration work by  August, 2021.
- (c): The beneficiaries of the erstwhile Aam Admi Bima Yojana have been  included  in  the  converged  scheme  of    Pradhan  Mantri  Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Surksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY).  Hence  no  budget  is  required  towards  the  beneficiaries  of Aam Admi Bima Yojana.
- (d): The component of Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana(PMGKY) under  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment  was  launched  during  first wave of Covid - 19 for the period of six months from March to August 2020. Under PMGKY, Ministry of Labour & Employment has contributed  both  12%  employer's  share  and  12%  employee's  share under Employees Provident Fund (EPF), totaling 24% of the wage for six months from March to August, 2020 for the   establishments having

upto  100  employees  with  90%  of  such  employees  earning  less  than Rs. 15000/-. Under the PMGKY scheme Rs 2567.20 crore was credited in  EPF  accounts  of  38.85  lakhs  eligible  employees  through  2,63,272 establishments.

Later,  as  a  sequel,  Aatmanirbhar  Bharat  Rozgar  Yojna  (ABRY) Scheme  has  been  launched  with  effect  from  1 st   October,  2020  to incentivize  employers  for  creation  of  new  employment  along  with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during COVID-19  pandemic.  This  scheme  being  implemented  through  the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) reduces the financial burden of the employers of various sectors/industries including MSME and encourages them  to hire more  workers. Under ABRY,  the Government  of  India  is  bearing  for  a  period  of  two  years,  both  the employees'  share  (12%  of  wages)  and  employers'  share  (12%  of wages) of contribution payable or only the employees' share, depending on employment strength of the EPFO registered establishments. As on 14 th  July, 2021 total benefit has been given to 86,610  Establishments  covering  23,58,653  beneficiaries.   ABRY  has been extended up to March, 2022.

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