Employment Policy

Policy Writer: Naya Yug |

There are marked differences between estimates of the number and proportion of youth based on the decennial censuses and the sample surveys, as well as the Sample Registration System. The projections made by different agencies such as the Office of the Registrar General on behalf of the Planning Commission and the United Nations also differ with respect to the number and relative share of the youth in the population. However, according to the best national estimates, the youth formed about 20% percent of the national population.

• Section 4.1 - Implement new reforms to increase employment opportunities both in urban and rural areas to solve the problem of unemployment.
• Section 4.2 - Enforce the National Perspective Plan for Youth, being implemented by the Ministry of Human Resource Development aimed at channeling the "vital and vibrant resource" of youth and making them participate in "their own development and in shaping the destiny of the nation"
• Section 4.3 - National Employment Service, operated by the Directorate General of Employment and Training, Ministry of Labor, runs nearly 900 Employment Exchanges in order to bring about a better matching of the demand for and the supply of work opportunities. We need to increase the number of Employment Exchanges from 900 to at least 25,000 in next 5 years.
• Section 4.4 - The Minimum Wages Act of 1948 authorizes the central and state governments to fix a minimum wage in different categories of employment including the unorganized sector. By June 1, 1996, minimum wages were being prescribed for 1175 categories or types of employment. However, there is no effective machinery for the implementation of the law relating to the minimum wages. We should setup a national priority to define and enforce the minimum wage for all job classifications.
• Section 4.5 - We need to setup National Human Resource Department (NHRD) to provide training and guidance for individuals seeking jobs.
• Section 4.6 - Encourage  companies to notify the NHRD about the vacancies, and work with employers to generate comprehensive information, which facilitates the appraisal of organized labor market.
• Section 4.7 - Encourage youths and help them to set up micro enterprises, covering manufacturing, service and business ventures. The scheme should cater to youth above 18 from families with an annual income of less than Rs. 24,000. Help them in setting up small enterprises with a bank loan of up to Rs. 100,000, without any collateral guarantee. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Reserve Bank of India monitor the progress of the scheme on a monthly basis and advise all the Indian scheduled commercial banks to meet the targets prescribed at the start of the year.
• Section 4.8 - Provide incentives to companies that hire people through the NHRD facilitated programs.
• Section 4.9 - We should provide unemployment benefits to jobless individuals registered through the NHRD.
• Section 4.10 - We should mobilize and inspire the youth section of our society in economic development process.
• Section 4.11 - The problem of child labor continues to pose a challenge before the nation. Government has been taking various pro-active measures to tackle this problem. However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all sections of the society to make a dent in the problem. NHRD should implement and enforce ban on child labor. We need to be committed to eliminate child labor in all its forms.
• Section 4.12 - We need to ensure that children in the age group of 5-8 years get directly admitted to regular schools and that the older working children are mainstreamed to the formal education system through special schools functioning under the NCLP Scheme.
• Section 4.13 - Penalize companies/individuals for hiring individuals below the national minimum wages.
• Section 4.14 - Provide training through NHRD for rural youth with a modicum of high school or college education who are seeking urban-type work opportunities.
• Section 4.15 - We should setup a national priority to improve the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPA).
• Section 4.16 - Enforce the legislative protections -  Minimum Wages Act, Workmen’s Compensation Act, Maternity Benefit Act, The Employees State Insurance Act, Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act,  Contract Labor (Regulation & Abolition) Act, Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act.
• Section 4.17 - A Central Institute for Vocational Education should be established to strengthen the activities in the field of vocational education.
• Section 4.18 - We should provide basic technical and managerial skills to rural youth from families below the poverty line" to enable them to take up "self-employment and wage employment in the broad fields of agricultural and allied sectors, namely industries, services and business services".
• Section 4.19 - The State Government should set up a NHRD to provide informal training and assistance in taking up self-employment.
• Section 4.20 - Employers’ organizations and Indian trade unions should be involved in promoting employment of the unemployed persons seeking work for the first time.
• Section 4.21 - We should take various initiatives through enactment of legislations, creation of welfare funds, spreading workers education and through supporting non-governmental organizations to bring the deprived class into the mainstream of our work force.

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