Skip to main content

Labour reforms will create quality jobs: Bandaru Dattatreya


Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Monday reiterated the government’s resolve to pursue labour reforms in a manner that will lead to creation of quality jobs, seeking to dismiss criticism that the BJP-led NDA government has presided over three years of jobless growth in the country.
"Labour reforms are on the agenda. Group of ministers has cleared the wage code. This will now go to the Cabinet and will come up in the next session of Parliament," Dattatreya said while recounting his ministry’s achievements over the past three years.

Highlighting the combined efforts of 23 ministries in imparting skills training to 1.25-crore people, Dattatreya said, "Employment generation is our top priority. So far six lakh jobs have been created under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana and going forward, we aim to give jobs to 50 lakh youths in the country."
 
The minister said that in the next few months, the labour ministry will bring Anganwadi and Asha workers under the social security net while launching the U-WIN (Unorganised Workers Identification Number) cards for 40-crore workers. "This will help establish a unique identity for all of them while helping them avail social security schemes such as Atal Pension Yojana," Dattatreya said.
 
Earlier in the day, at the start of a three-hour long event to mark the three years of Narendra Modi government, labour secretary M Sathiyavathy said the labour ministry has outpaced other ministries as far as passage of legislations is concerned. In the past three years, the ministry has overseen the passage of amendment to Child Labour Regulation Act, the Employees Compensation Act, the Bonus Amendment Act and the Maternity Benefit Act, which it said benefited different sections of the society ..


Besides, the ministry has significantly reduced the burden of compliance and is pursuing amalgamation of 44 labour laws in four codes to further enhance the ease of doing business in the country.

While outlining the achievements of labour ministry since the Modi government assumed office, Sathiyavathy said that employees should continue their faith in the Employees Provident Fund Organisation since it gives maximum rate of return on investment. "The central board of trustees of EPFO had last week decided to increase EPFO investment in exchange traded funds from 10% to 15%. This will fetch better returns to workers," she said, reiterating that investments in ETFs are completely safe and risk free

The government has given employees the option to invest in National Pension Scheme (NPS) alongside the EPFO. However, the NPS is yet to yield much results because most employees continue to favour the EPFO.

Economic Times New Delhi, 30th May 2017

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Budget: Startup sector gets new Fund of Funds, FM to allocate Rs 10K cr

  The Indian startup sector received a boost with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing the establishment of a new fund of funds (FoF) in the Budget 2025. The minister unveiled a fresh FoF with an expanded scope, allocating Rs 10,000 crore. The initial fund of funds announced by the government with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore successfully catalysed commitments worth Rs 91,000 crore, the minister said.   “The renewal of the Rs 10,000 crore commitment to the Fund of Funds for alternative investment funds (AIFs) is a significant step forward for the Indian startup and investment ecosystem. The initial Rs 10,000 crore commitment catalysed Rs 91,000 crore in investments, and I fully expect this fresh infusion to attract an additional Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in capital,” said Anirudh Damani, managing partner, Artha Venture Funds.   Damani further added that this initiative will provide much-needed growth capital to early-stage startups, further strengthenin...

After RBI rate cut, check latest home loan interest rates of top banks for loans above Rs 75 lakh

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points from 6.50% to 6.25% in its monetary policy review as announced on February 7, 2025. After the RBI repo rate cut, banks such as SBI, Canara Bank, PNB, and Union Bank among others have cut their repo linked lending rates. Most other banks are also expected to cut their lending rates in line with the RBI rate cut. After banks cut their lending rates, their home loan borrowers will have to pay less interest. Normally, when a lender cuts the lending rate, borrowers get two options: Either to go for a reduction in EMIs or reduce the tenure of the loan. The second option will help the borrowers clear their home loan outstanding faster. In case, the borrower goes for reduction in EMI then the lower lending rate of the lender would mean lower Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) for borrowers.   EMI is the amount you will pay on a specific date each month till the loan is repaid in full.A repo rate-linked home ...

GST collections rise 9.9% to exceed Rs 1.96 trillion in March 2025

  Gross GST collection in March grew 9.9 per cent to over Rs 1.96 lakh crore, government data showed on Tuesday. GST revenue from domestic transactions rose 8.8 per cent to Rs 1.49 lakh crore, while revenue from imported goods was higher 13.56 per cent to Rs 46,919 crore. Total refunds during March rose 41 per cent to Rs 19,615 crore. After adjusting refunds, net GST revenue stood at over Rs 1.76 lakh crore in March 2025, a 7.3 per cent growth over the year-ago period.       - Business Standard 02 th March, 2025