Sources tell NDTV that government is mulling private sector participation. Under a new draft the government will continue to pay 100 days of wages, and companies will only have to pick up a wage bill for the remaining 265 days.
Cottage, small scale and medium sized companies will be incentivised to set up industrial clusters around villages.
Companies operating in sectors such as gems and jewellery and garmenting, which are not very capital intensive and can employ people with minimal skills, will be encouraged to set up such clusters. These sectors also do not entail massive land acquisition which puts them in an advantageous position.
“The industry will be more than happy to set up mom and pop operations, in the form of clusters. The labour is the biggest issue that we face and this proposition is mutually viable for youth, government and private sector,” said Sudhir Dhingra, chairman of Orient Craft.
Sources tell NDTV that the ministry of rural development has already started work on preparing a draft paper, which is likely to be put-up for inter-ministerial discussion next month.
Once the ministry is ready with its first draft, it will be put for discussion with finance ministry, commerce ministry and labour ministry, before it is formally tabled in the cabinet.