Rural job guarantee Bill tabled in LS

NEW DELHI: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004 tabled today in the Lok Sabha proposes creation of a National Employment Guarantee Fund by the Centre to finance generation of employment for the rural poor. The state governments would similarly be required to establish a fund called state employment guarantee fund for the implementation of the scheme. The bill estimates that the cost of the scheme would be Rs 38,600 crore if the legislation covers the entire country, of which the Centre's share would be Rs 34,740 crore. The estimate has been worked out assuming the average cost of providing employment to persons covered by the scheme is Rs 100 per day. The bill proposes to provide 100 days of unskilled manual labour to one member of every poor household. The wage component is expected to be Rs 60 per person per day and material cost Rs 40. The bill says, if the legislation is restricted to the 150 districts where the National Food for Work Programme is being implemented, the requirement of Central assistance would be Rs 8,984 crore in a year. The bill further provides that the Central government would notify wages to be paid under people opting for employment under the scheme. The wages notified could vary for different areas. It adds that till the Centre notifies the wage to be paid in a specific area, the minimum fixed by state government under section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for agricultural labourers shall be considered the wage applicable in that area. The unemployment allowance is to be paid to a person if he has not been provided work within 15 days of receipt of application or from the date on which the employment has been sought in case of an advance application. The rate for unemployment allowance may be specified by the state government and under no condition can it be less than one-fourth of the wage rate for the first 30 days during a financial year and not less than half of the wage rate for the remaining period of the financial condition. The state government would be required to notify the employment guarantee scheme within six months of enactment of the bill. Also, the state governments would be required to constitute a council for regular monitoring and review of the implementation of the Act at the state level. The Centre is also required to constitute a Central Employment Guarantee Council to establish a central evaluation and monitoring system, advise the Centre on implementation of the Act, review and monitor the implementation of the Act and prepare annual statement to be laid in the House.

Rural job guarantee Bill tabled in LS

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004 tabled today in the Lok Sabha proposes creation of a National Employment Guarantee Fund by the Centre to finance generation of employment for the rural poor.

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