The program, when approved, can be implemented in smaller cities and will initially cost around 35 billion rupees ($ 4.8 billion), said Sanjay Kumar, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
“The government has been considering this idea since last year,” he said. “The pandemic gave a boost to this discussion.”
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already spending more than Rs 1 lakh crore on a rural employment program (MGNREGA) this year, under which inland workers can earn a guaranteed minimum daily wage of Rs 202 for at least 100 days a year. An urban version of the plan will soften the blow on citizens most affected by the consequences of the coronavirus, which has sent Asia’s third-largest economy into its deepest contraction in history.
Right to work
The idea is to start with smaller cities because projects in large cities generally need professional experience, Kumar said.
The rural program involves employing people for local public works projects, such as road construction, well digging and reforestation. It now covers more than 270 million people and was used as a tool to provide employment for migrant workers returning from cities amid the shutdown.
That said, Covid-19 also decimated livelihoods in urban India, creating a new lower class of workers who are being pushed into poverty, according to an analysis by the London School of Economics.
More than 121 million people lost their jobs in April, bringing the unemployment rate to a record 23%, according to the Indian Economy Monitoring Center Pvt. But the unemployment rate has fallen since the economy reopened. .
“A commitment at the national level to overcome the livelihood crisis is therefore essential to prevent urban workers from falling into poverty and to counteract the sharp and sudden rise in inequality,” wrote Shania Bhalotia, Swati Dhingra and Fjolla Kondirolli, the authors of the report: ‘The City of Dreams No More: The Impact of Covid-19 on Urban Workers in India’ – published by the LSE Center for Economic Performance.
Secretary for economic affairs Tarun Bajaj He previously spoke about the program in an interview with a business newspaper, raising expectations of a fiscal boost after a previously announced 21 trillion rupee support package fell short in terms of actual budget spending.
The program would boost demand in the economy, said Ashima Goyal, a professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research in Mumbai and an advisor to Modi.
On video: India’s flagship jobs program can be extended to migrant workers in cities
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