NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT BOARD

 

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered: CII recommended the creation of National Employment Board, CII’s five-point agenda

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News Flash

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recommended the creation of a National Employment Board consisting of members from key Union Ministries, all state governments, industry experts and trade unions, among others, to look into and address issues faced in employment creation in the country.

The Government National Employment Mission should include flexibility in hiring, tax incentives, education and skill development, and promotion of labour-intensive sectors.

 

India is now set to become a US$ 5 trillion economy in the next five years. With the theme for 2019-20 as ‘Competitiveness of India Inc – India@75: Forging Ahead‘, CII will focus on five priority areas which would enable the country to stay on a solid growth track. These are – employment generation, rural-urban connect, energy security, environmental sustainability and governance.

 

Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) five-point agenda

Recommending immediate action, CII outlined a five-point agenda for the upcoming Budget.

• States should introduce “fixed-term employment” and other Labour law reforms should receive priority in new central government infrastructure project funding.
• The reduction in the number of days of employment to 150 for workers in textiles, garments, footwear and leather sectors can be extended to all manufacturing sectors.
• The industry body also recommended that under Prime Minister’s Rozgar Protsahan Yojana, the wage threshold should be increased to ₹25,000 from the current ₹ 15,000.
• The other suggestions included consideration of corporate income tax rebates for enterprises employing over a certain number of formal workers, and providing skill voucher/wallets to boost skilling.
• Benefits under Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act should be extended for all workers earning up to Rs 50,000 in any sector.

 

Concept of Minimum Wage

• CII said that states should have the power to determine minimum wages based on three criteria — geographic location, skill and occupation.  However, this cannot be lower than the minimum wage fixed by the Centre.
• The government should fix the minimum wages of unskilled workers, the wages of the skilled and semi-skilled labour force.
• To encourage more women to participate in the workforce, CII recommended providing child care and maternity benefit subsidies under the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act.

 

Confederation of Indian Industry

• It is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization.
• It was founded in 1895.
• The CII works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes.

 

Source: Economic Times