Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

19-November-2016 20:04 IST

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that one of the major priorities of the present Government is to ensure that benefits of Social Security Schemes reach to every section of workers including those working in the un-organized sector. He said that the Government is sensitive about the workers’ welfare and would take all possible measures to ensure that their interest and welfare is fully protected. He said that making social security schemes accessible to the workers of the un-organised sector is a major challenge, which the Government is keen to address at this juncture as the unorganised sector is growing at a faster pace. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was speaking during his Second Pre -Budget Consultative Meeting for the Union Budget 2017-18 with the representatives of different Trade Union Groups here today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further said that the present framework of social security is structured for different groupings –organized, unorganized and those not employed/BPL, which are functional requirements. He said that there is a need to ensure a convergence of benefits for all these groupings, above a minimum threshold.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that for employment generation, the Government has taken many intiatives like Make in India, Skill India, Mudra Yojana and National Career Service Portal. Along with skill development, identifying labour-intensive industries and new areas where jobs can be created like renewable energy and reusable resources etc. and providing employment linked training can be some of the ways to capitalise on the demographic dividend, the Finance Minister added.

Along with the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley, the Pre-Budget Consultative Meeting with the representatives of different Trade Union Groups was also attended among others by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Ashok Lavasa, Finance Secretary, Shri Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, DEA, Dr Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary,Ms Anjuli Chib Duggal, Secretary, Financial Services, Smt. M. Sathiyavathy, Secretary Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), Shri Rajan Kumar, Director General, Labour Bureau, Dr. Pritam Singh, Director (Admin.), NILERD and Shri Manish Kumar Gupta, Director General,V.V. GIri National Labour Institute.

The representatives of various Trade Union Groups who attended the today’s meeting included Shri Tapan Sen, (CITU), Shri Vrijesh Upadhyay (BMS), Shri Ashok Singh (INTUC), Shri D.L.Sachdev & Shri V. S. Giri (AITUC), Shri Harbhajan Singh Sidhu (HMS), Shri Sankar Saha (AIUTUC), Shri S.P. Tiwary (TUCC), Ms. Manali Shah (SEWA), Shri Rajiv Dimri (AICCTU), Shri M. Shanmugam & Shri Jawahar Prasad Singh (LPF), Shri Deepak Jaiswal (NFITU) ,Shri Ashok Ghosh (UTUC) and Shri Uday Patwardhan among others.

Most of the Trade Union representative gave a joint memorandum to the Finance Minister containing suggestions for the forthcoming Union Budget 2017-18. Various suggestions were made by the representatives of Trade Union Groups in the meeting. Major suggestions include that next Budget should help in creation of more jobs/employment opportunities. It was suggested to increase the minimum wages to ₹ 18,000. Other suggestions include more focus in the Budget on social security schemes for the workers especially those working in an un-organised sector. It was suggested that same wages be given for same work including in case of those working on contractual basis. Anti-dumping measures especially in metal sector like steel have to taken-up on utmost priority to save the domestic industry from irreparable loss and ultimate closure.

Other suggestions include minimum personal tax exemption limit be raised to ₹ 5.00 lakh and pension for workers be increased from ₹ 1,000 to ₹ 3,000 and be given to all kinds of workers. Other suggestions include credit to MSME Sector at 4% as it generates lot of employment; and providing mobile banking facility in rural areas where there is no banks/Post Offices etc. It was also suggested that rates for treatment in case of emergency under CGHS be revised.

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Social security access for unorganized workers prioritised, with budget proposals urging job creation and expanded welfare coverage. Priority declared to extend social security schemes to all categories of workers, with special emphasis on workers in the unorganised sector and convergence of benefits across organized, unorganized and BPL groupings above a minimum threshold. The statement frames accessibility of social security as a policy challenge and records trade union recommendations for the budget, including employment generation, higher minimum wages, equal pay for equal work, expanded pension and social security coverage, concessional MSME credit, rural mobile banking, revised emergency treatment rates under CGHS, and anti dumping measures.