Employment generation on the cards

NUTS & BOLTS

Assured irrigation facilities to an additional 1 crore hectares of land over a period of five years is expected generate employment for an additional 1 crore people at the rate of 1 person per hectare.

The food processing industry is growing at a rate that generates 2.5 lakh jobs every year. The textile sector alone has the potential to create 1.2 crore jobs over the next five years.

The information technology (IT) industry is expected to offer an additional 70 lakh jobs by 2009. Now, the construction industry is also expected to throw up lakhs of jobs.

The government has declared that sectors with potential for generating employment will receive the highest attention.

SME growth fund

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has established a SME Growth Fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. Small and medium units in knowledge-based industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and IT will be provided equity support through this fund.

The ministry of small scale industries also plans to introduce the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Bill during this session of the Parliament.

Besides, the ministry has identified 108 items for de-reservation. Nearly 30 of them are in the category of textile products, including hosiery, which is a sector poised for rapid growth. The provision of Rs 135 crore made for the "Promotion of SSI Schemes" is being enhanced to Rs 173 crore in 2005-06

Pension scheme being widened

A new contribution pension scheme for newly recruited Central Government employees is being implemented. The scheme could also be extended to the unorganised sector.

States such as Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have introduced similar schemes for their employees.

Other states have also evinced interest. The new scheme proposes to offer a menu of investment choices to the subscribers and to provide a strong regulatory mechanism to ensure that the interests of subscribers are protected.

Package for tsunami relief

The government has approved relief packages of Rs 3,644 crore for tsunami relief.

The Planning Commission, which is coordinating the Tsunami Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme, has drawn up a programme at a cost of Rs 10,216 crore.

Sweet pill for the sugar industry

A new financial package to revitalise the sugar industry has been announced. Sugar factories that were operational in the 2002-03 sugar season will be helped to restructure.

Nabard, in consultation with state governments, RBI, banks and financial institutions, will work out a scheme for providing a financial package with a moratorium of two years, on principal and interest.