Why in news?
As many as 93 million urban informal workers, across five sectors — manufacturing, construction, trade, tourism and hospitality — have been affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown – according to an informal Group of Ministers headed by labour minister.
Details of Suggestions submitted
Creation of:
- A database of the workers
- A job card for every migrant worker returning to their village
- A complete tweaking of the rural employment guarantee scheme that allows work in a private factory or construction site, with the employer paying wages above the MNREGA wage component which will continue to be paid by the government
- An app named Kaushal (literally, skill) that allows workers to register for skill development courses and also reach out to potential employers.
The group also emphasised that there need to be confidence building measures to bring back migrant workers to the cities.
Other Observations
- The Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE) announcedlast weekthat 114 million jobs have been lost in April and unemployment is at a record high of 27.1%.
- The group also pointed out that even workers in the organised sector faced the risk of losing their jobs.
-Source: Hindustan Times
