Make Labour codes a reality: Indian Staffing Federation

By Rituparna Chakraborty

1) Make Labour codes a reality and getting them operational from 1st of April- India has 44 central, 387 state labour laws, 67 central and 1,333 state labour filings and 674 central and 26,484 labour compliances. Simplification, rationalization, digitisation of labour laws should be operational on an immediate basis to make them comprehensive, effective, easy to comply. Subsuming our labour laws based on relevance into four labour codes is our first step in that direction and to have the ground result, its critical we start speedy implementation.
2) Renewed Focus on investing in skills across all sectors and not limited to higher education- Vocational trainings and jobs are slowly gaining momentum in the education sector. In fact, vocational job salaries have consistently risen above salaries of those with engineering and MBA degrees from bottom rung institutes. Skillsets across sectors are also witnessing tremendous demand within industry. It’s important that Govt. give equal weightage and importance in developing skills and training across sectors and not alone higher education to help pass the benefit of landing on a well-paid job at all employee strata.
3) Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) should be extended- Extension of PMRPY scheme is important since it would help the pool of new workforce to avail its benefits (i.e. access to social security benefit through Provident Fund, Pension and Death Linked Insurance) and also encourage more hiring among employers due to the incentive play thereby increasing job generation in the economy.
4) Complete Utilisation of Infrastructure and Development Outlay to generate employment beyond cities and in turn putting more money in the hands of people- The government should focus on urbanisation, smart cities, and infrastructural development on top priority to etch a well comprehensive growth trajectory of a country. Tier II and III cities and semi-urban areas needs to have clear and focused development to help generate employment opportunities within them. Not only government’s infrastructure development projects and social welfare schemes can generate at least five million jobs every year, absorbing nearly half of the 10 million people who annually enter the country's workforce but if implemented well, these new emerging cities will eventually become the new job generating resources for India.
5) Bring back positive sentiments in domestic consumption by specifically focussing on unshackling potentially high employment generating sectors like Telecom, Ecommerce, Automobiles Slight shift in sentiment amongst sectors can have huge impact on employment. 2019 witnessed a marked slowdown in automobile, manufacturing and engineering sectors which are high employment generating industries due to which apprehensions have crept in in terms of jobs within these areas. It’s important that Govt takes steps to lost positivity and belief in the growth of these sectors through necessary budgeting and policy initiatives.

Rituparna Chakraborty, President, Indian Staffing Federation