Azim Premji University recommends to set up National Urban Employment Guarantee Programme

Azim Premji University, a Deemed University, has suggested to set up a National Urban Employment Guarantee Programme for strengthening small and medium-sized towns in India.

The members of the Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, have recommended that the programme suggested should address key problems including underemployment and low wages in informal workforce, poor quality of urban infrastructure and public services, ecological degradation, migration to large cities from small towns, unemployment and lack of skills among educated youth, shortage of human and financial capacities of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

The proposed programme will be covering towns with a population of less than 1 million.

Workers with varying levels of formal education up to class 12 will be eligible for 100 days of guaranteed employment a year at Rs 500 per day. Workers who have acquired formal education beyond class 12 will be offered an apprenticeship in monitoring, surveying, and other similar tasks in public offices, schools, hospitals, etc. at Rs 13,000 per month for a continuous period of 5 months.