Govt promoting labour-intensive manufacturing in tourism and agro-based industries: Gangwar

Government is strategically promoting labour-intensive manufacturing and expanding employment opportunities in tourism and agro-based industries, labour minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

There has been an all-round criticism of the government for not creating enough jobs for seven million youth that enter the workforce every year.

In fact, the periodic labour force survey of NSSO has shown unemployment rate at over four decade high of 6.1% in 2017-18.

According to Gangwar, government has taken various steps for generating employment in the country like encouraging private sector of economy, fast-tracking various projects involving substantial investment and increasing public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deendyal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).

The National Manufacturing Policy identifies employment intensive industries like textiles and garments, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery and food processing, etc. as special focus attention sectors. The policy provides special attention for Small Scale Industries as they offer employment opportunities both for self-employment and jobs across diverse geographies.