Budget 2024-25 Employment : Rs 2L cr job plan to quell youth unrest

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi, July 23

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a cache of six schemes to support jobs with a financial outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore over five years and an estimated plan to benefit 4.1 crore youth. The announcements come amid student unrest over paper leaks, cancellation of key exams and the controversy around IAS probationer Puja Khedkar who defrauded the UPSC system to enter the coveted civil services.

Addressing the youth, the Finance Minister said, “I am happy to announce the Prime Minister’s package of five schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over a five-year period with a central outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore. This year, I have made a provision of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for education, employment and skilling.” The government also promised education loans.

The first scheme will provide one-month wage to all persons newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors. “The direct benefit transfer of one-month salary in three instalments to first-time employees, as registered in the EPFO, will be up to Rs 15,000. The eligibility limit will be a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month. The scheme is expected to benefit 210 lakh youth,” said the FM.

The second scheme aims at substantial hiring of first-time employees in manufacturing by incentivising additional employment and will help 30 lakh youth and their employers. “An incentive will be provided at specified scale directly both to the employee and the employer with respect to their EPFO contribution in the first four years of employment. The subsidy would have to be refunded by the employer if the employment to the first-timer ends within 12 months of recruitment,” the Budget says.

In the third scheme covering all additional employment within a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month in all sectors, the government will reimburse to employers up to Rs 3,000 per month for two years towards their EPFO contribution for each additional employee. This will incentivise additional employment of 50 lakh persons, the FM said.

The fourth centrally sponsored scheme in collaboration with states and industry will have an outlay of Rs 60,000 crore to skill 20 lakh youth over five years. About the fifth scheme, Sitharaman said the government would provide internships in 500 top companies to 1 crore youth in five years. Monthly internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per person along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000 will be provided to these youth.

“Companies will be expected to bear the training cost and 10 per cent of the internship cost from their CSR funds. Youth aged between 21 and 24 years, who are not employed and not engaged in full-time education, will be eligible to apply,” she said.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, however, said the targets were very ambitious. He said unemployment was India’s biggest challenge and the CMIE had put all-India unemployment rate at 9.2 per cent. “The response of the government is too little and the claim that the schemes announced by the FM will benefit 290 lakh persons is highly exaggerated,” Chidambaram said.

He also questioned government’s education loan plans. The budget says for helping the youth ineligible for any government benefit loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions will be given and e-vouchers for this purpose will be issued to 1 lakh students every year on annual interest subvention of 3 per cent of the loan amount. “What about the huge burden of unpaid education loans? Students were hoping for government to write off unpaid balance of educational loans as a one-time measure of relief. They must be disappointed,” Chidambaram said.

UGC, business schools face cut in grants

• The budgetary allocation of University Grants Commission (UGC), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has been slashed this fiscal
• The grant for higher education regulator UGC has been brought down to Rs 2,500 crore from Rs 5,360 crore Budget estimate of 2023-24
• The allocation for prestigious B-schools has also been reduced for the second consecutive year
• The proposed Budget for IIMs has been reduced to Rs 212 crore from the last year’s allocation of Rs 300 cr
• The Budget for higher education has been significantly increased by Rs 3,525.15 crore. This fiscal, the Budget proposed for the sector is Rs 47,619.77 crore. Furthermore, the funds for deemed universities promoted by the Centre saw a noteworthy increase from Rs 500 crore to Rs 596 crore
• However, the grants for central universities and Indian Institute of Technologies have been increased marginally