KTR suggests job scheme for urban poor

National Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme is the need of the hour, include it in the forthcoming Budget, Rama Rao tells Nirmala.
Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K Taraka Rama Rao. (File photo)
Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K Taraka Rama Rao. (File photo)

HYDERABAD: IT Minister KT Rama Rao has requested Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to announce a National Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (NUEGS) in the ensuing Budget for the urban poor on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to boost social security.

“A national policy aimed at increased daily incomes for urban labour is the need of the hour,” Rama Rao said in his letter to Sitharaman.

He suggested that job cards can be provided under the scheme like in rural areas and the services of the cardholders can be utilised for environment protection at the city level, as well as basic infra works like laying pavements and other repair and maintenance works. Rama Rao said that urbanisation was a global phenomena and the country was no exception.

“As per Census 2011, as much as 31 per cent of India’s population (about 38 crore) people are living in urban areas. This is estimated to increase to about 60 crore by 2030, by which time 40 per cent of the country’s population would live in urban areas,” Rama Rao wrote.

“Some States like Telangana are witnessing even faster pace of urbanisation; our urban population is poised to cross 50 per cent mark in the near futu-re and this will pose challenges like housing, water, sanitation, health, education, social security, livelihoods and also special needs of vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly,” he wrote.

According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate in urban India is 9.4 per cent and among the urban youth of the 15-29 years age group, it has risen to 19.2 per cent and 21.1 per cent respectively in pre-lockdown periods.

In his letter, the IT Minister said that the pandemic has resulted in unemployment rate jumping for those above 15 years to 20.8 per cent from 9.1 per cent in January-March 2020.

He added that taking this into account, a social security scheme like the National Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, was the need of the hour.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com