Job guarantee law in 3 months

NEW DELHI: The government proposes to "seamlessly merge" the expanded food-for-work programme with job guarantee programmes by the middle of next year and enact a law to generate employment in the next two to three months.

"The expanded food-for-work programme will be seamlessly merged with the proposed Employment Guarantee Act," Jairam Ramesh, Congress Economics Affairs Department secretary said here after a meeting between Finance Minister P Chidambaram and CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat.

He said the government was also working on the legislation for enacting the National Employment Guarantee Act, which is expected to be ready in two-three months.

The statement on merger of food-for-work programme with employment guarantee comes in the wake of the Planning Commission''s apprehension on the resources required for providing guarantee for rural employment.

The Planning Commission had estimated as high as Rs 40,000 crore for employment guarantee for rural areas.

The Common Minimum Programme has sought to guarantee 100 days of work to at least one able-bodied person in every poor family in the country under an Employment Guarantee Act.

This programme will go a long way in guaranteeing employment in backward districts and a list of the proposed districts is being worked out.

The government has earmarked Rs 6,000 crore towards food-for- work programme to cover 150 most-backward districts of the country in this year.

Additional funds will also be provided to crucial programmes like Sarvasiksha Abhiyan and Midday Cooked-Meal Scheme besides creating a non-lapsable pool of funds for primary education.