The proposal, a version of which has been previously presented to the Congress and to a foundation working with other Opposition parties, has been released in a policy paper titled ‘Strengthening towns through sustainable employment’.
With rising unemployment becoming a major poll issue, and several political parties proposing solutions for it in their election manifestos, a group of labour researchers have proposed a national urban job guarantee programme for small towns.
They estimate that the scheme would benefit 3 to 5 crore people and cost 1.7% of the GDP if it covers one adult per household in the 4,000-odd towns that have a population of less than 10 lakh people.
The proposal, a version of which has been previously presented to the Congress party and to a foundation working with other Opposition parties, was released on Friday in a policy paper titled ‘Strengthening towns through sustainable employment’.
The paper has been drafted by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment, which also publishes the annual State of Working India report.
According to leaked data from the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), unemployment rate is at a 45-year high of 6.1%, spiking to 7.8% in urban areas. There is open unemployment of about 20% among educated youth.
The proposal suggests a two pronged approach to address this jobs crisis. Workers who have not completed Class 12 would be eligible for 100 days of guaranteed employment each year at Rs.500 per day. Those who have education beyond Class 12 would be provided apprenticeship work, mostly in monitoring and surveying for public offices, schools, hospitals and other institutions, and paid a stipend of Rs.13,000 per month for a contiguous period of five months.
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