NEW DELHI: The NDA government’s three employment generation schemes have failed to meet targets despite funds being pumped for their implementation, an internal assessment of the labour ministry has revealed. The three schemes—Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Yojana(DDU-AY)—have seen disappointing results.
The PM Employment Generation Programme, started in 2008-2009 by the UPA government, offers bank loans and subsidies of 15 per cent in urban and 25 per cent in rural areas to set up small enterprises.
According to the Labour and employment ministry, a total of `4,642 crore was disbursed by the Centre since 2014 under the scheme. It resulted in setting up of 1.8 lakh small units and generated a total of 13.12 lakh jobs, roughly at an average of 3.3 lakh jobs a year. The target set for the scheme was 11 lakh jobs per year. Each newly-set up unit received a government subsidy of `2 lakh on an average.
The number of enterprises that have been set up since the NDA came to power has risen only by a paltry 0.3 per cent which implies that only 1,72,600 units were set up as against a target of 7 lakh units.
However, the ministry claims the data are not updated. “It is not as if the schemes are not working. The dashboard that you see on the website takes time to be updated. Most of these schemes are implemented in remote villages and it takes time for the data to be conveyed from these areas to the ministry. The figures are better than they look,” a labour ministry official said.
Under the DDU-GKY, youths are trained in a bid to make them self-sufficient. These youths are then helped by placement agencies to get recruited. Since 2014, only 3.39 lakh youths have managed to get jobs through the scheme. The target of the scheme was 10 lakh per year. Similar is the case with DDU-AY, a scheme which trains urban youth and helps them get recruited. Since the Modi government took charge, only 3.23 lakh jobs have been created under the scheme as against the target of 15 lakh per year.
“It is very difficult for these youths to sustain the jobs as all small units do not make profits and many close down. Hence, initially the number of jobs created is high and then, as the units shut down, the employment rates go down," the official said. "Our next aim is to set up economically and operationally viable units so that once an unemployed youth gets a job, he is not forced into unemployment over a period of time,” the official added.