Job scheme for urban poor coming

Buoyed by the success of its employment scheme for the rural poor,India may now get a similar programme for urban areas. Some outgoing Planning Commission members have suggested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that an urban job security scheme on the lines of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme is imperative for those living in cities as many in the unorganised sector have lost their jobs because of the economic slowdown.

Plan panel member Sayeeda Hamid had recently pointed out that over 80 per cent of those employed in urban areas are in the unorganised sector and their earnings have fallen to very low levels. A rag picker in Delhi now works 14 hours,as compared to 9-10 hours earlier,but still earns less. It is hard time for many like them, she argued. The UPA government has received similar inputs from Arjun Sengupta,who headed a commission for the welfare of unorganised sector workers,and the Congress had promised an employment scheme for the poor in its manifesto. The PM was concerned about the poor in urban areas and appeared inclined towards a job scheme for them, said a Commission official,who participated in the meeting between the panel members and the Prime Minister recently. Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar has already constituted a committee of secretaries to consider new priorities for the next government. In its input to the committee,the plan panel has identified road development,improvement in agriculture production,urban infrastructure and skill development as some key areas for the attention of the new government. The UPA government did it in 2004 to launch NREGS. It can happen now as well, the plan panel official said.

The Prime Ministers Office has also told Chandrasekhar that the existing programmes,which can be modified or deferred,should be identified early. There were only 50 schemes among both central and centrally sponsored schemes which had an allocation of more than Rs 500 crore for this year. To create space for a new urban employment scheme,which can cost up to Rs 2,000 crore in the first phase,some of the ongoing programmes would have to be axed.

Outgoing plan panel member Anwarul Hoda,who looks after infrastructure,however,said: Top priority needs to be given to the development of infrastructure,especially the roads sector.