Dattatreya suggests to TS benefits from garment exports

Union Minister of State for Labour & Employment Bandaru Dattatraya said on Saturday that the recent decisions taken by the Cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a special package for the apparel sector would benefit the country. Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, he said that the approval for a special package for employment generation and promotion of exports in the Textile and Apparel sector would generate one crore jobs in the industry over next 3 years. The package includes a slew of measures which are labour friendly and would promote employment generation, economies of scale and boost exports. The majority of new jobs are likely to go to women since the garment industry employs nearly 70% women workforce. Thus, the package would help in social transformation through women's empowerment. The Minister requested the Telangana government to send the proposals to benefit from the decision. Places like Warangal, Pochampalli, Narayanpet and Gadwal can be developed under the new initiative, he said. As for the Employee Provident Fund Scheme Reforms, the Government of India shall bear the entire 12% of the employers’ contribution under the Employers Provident Fund Scheme for new employees of the garment industry for the first 3 years if they earned less than Rs. 15,000 per month. The Minister said that decision on the EPFO stock investment would be taken in the forthcoming meeting of the Central Board of Trustees meeting on July 7. There will be no inoperative EPF accounts in the coming days. With the use of the latest Technology, every PF account will be linked to UAN number and Aadhar, he said. The EPFO has settled all the pending cases as of now, he said. At present, 8.33% of employer’s contribution is already being provided by Government under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY). Overtime hours for workers are not to exceed 8 hours per week in line with the ILO norms. Regarding the Startup-Stand Up scheme, Dattatraya said that around 18 lakh youth can get employment through this Rozgar scheme. By involving the state lead bank, the Telangana state should utilise the opportunity for the benefit of SC, ST and women entrepreneurs. The Minister also announced that the Labour bureau would conduct Labour survey once in three months in seven core sectors to identify the employment scenario.