Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana – A Blessing in Disguise

Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is the relief announced amidst the coronavirus pandemic.  Job loss and unemployment are the most severe immediate impact of the COVID-19 crisis, while lower economic growth and a rise in inequality would be its long-term effects. As per the recent survey, the primary policy priorities were protecting workers and their families, short-term employment creation, and income transfers to affected society sections. Short-term policy requirements were to support MSMEs, expansion of MGNREGA, job creation, cash transfers, and social security. The long-term measures included the need for building a more robust public health system, universalization of social security, and policies for the welfare and rights of migrants, workers, other indigenous families.

With the wave of severe Covid-19, sectors were immensely affected and suffered. It left almost all sectors helpless and few without work. Many businesses suffered shutdowns, hawkers and vendors lost their means of earning a livelihood. To support the same and lift their morale in these times, the Government of India launched the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan or Self-reliant India is the new ray of hope in the form of a relief and exemptions scheme initiated by India’s Government. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan lays the foundation stone for the long-term reformation and growth in the Indian economy’s crucial sectors that would lead to raised per capita GDP in this hour of crisis. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is like a dream come true for plenty of business setups, migrants, vendors, indigenous families, etc.

What is Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana?

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is the new employment scheme announced by Our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, on 12 November 2020. The Scheme plays a cosmic role in suppressed sectors and people’s lives and shall indeed be a great success in converting the time of crisis into opportunity. The Scheme has proved to be a blessing in disguise for most business organizations and people affected by the Pandemic’s trauma. The primary reason behind launching the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana was to pursue those policies that are efficient, competitive, long-lasting, and resilient. The Scheme resulted from the efforts, which could sense the majority of Indians’ atrocities and came up with this thought to revive the people’s distorted lives.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana aims to incentivize the creation of new employment opportunities and growth during the Covid-19 economic recovery phase. The Indian economy has witnessed a strong recovery after a long and strict COVID-19 lockdown.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana announcement is the more stimulus scheme to boost the Nation’s growth and development. It also mentioned that macro-economic indicators are pointing towards recovery. Also, the Covid-19 active cases have declined from over 10 lakh to 4.89 lakh. Our FM Nirmala Sitharaman address comes a day after the Union Cabinet approved Rs. 2 lakh crore production-linked incentive (PLI) package to boost demand in the country.

Beneficiary Criteria

The Scheme of Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana will be applicable for all the eligible new employees joining EPFO-registered establishments and those who exited the establishments during the rough phase the COVID pandemic.

The beneficiary criteria for Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana are as follows:-

• The new Employees joining employment in EPFO registered establishments on monthly wages less than Rs. 15,000 during the validity period of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana.
• EPF members who are drawing a monthly wage of less than Rs. Fifteen thousand exited employment during the COVID pandemic from 1 March 2020 to 30 September 2020 & are employed on or after 1 October 2020.
• The subsidy support to get credited upfront in Aadhaar seeded EPFO Account (UAN) of eligible new employees.

Eligibility Criteria for the Establishments under Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

1. The establishments registered with EPFO if they add new employees compared to reference base of employees as in September 2020 as under:

• Establishments registering with EPFO post the commencement of Scheme to get subsidy for all new employees
• Scheme to operational till 30 June 2021.

Contribution from the Side of Central Government

Through its subsidy, Central Government shall deliver few benefits towards the Scheme of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana. For organizations with up to 1,000 employees who earn up to Rs 15,000 per month and are registered under EPFO, the 12% contribution of the employees and 12% from the employer – amounting to 24% will be borne entirely by the central Government.

The Central Government shall provide subsidy for two years regarding new eligible employees engaged on or after 1 October 2020; finance minister Nirmala Siutharama further stated that subsidy would be credited upfront Aadhaar-seeded EPFO accounts.

Major Announcements under Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

As per the sources, the package, ahead of Diwali, could offer a stimulus totaling about 1.48 lakh crore to help the economy of our Nation. The economic stimulus package is likely to focus on MSMEs, rural and urban income groups, and the hospitality and aviation sectors. On 19 October, the finance minister stated that the Government has started a mid-year review of the economy and is open to offering another stimulus package after demands from various quarters and industry bodies. The significant announcements under Aatm Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana include:

• Rs. 3,000 crores will be given to EXIM Bank to promote project exports through Lines of Credit under IDEAS Scheme.
• An additional outlay of Rs. Ten thousand crores will be provided for PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana in the current FY to boost rural employment.
• Rs. 65,000 crores provided for subsidized fertilizers will help approximately 140 million farmers.
• Income tax relief for developers & home buyers availed.
• Support and assistance for Construction & Infrastructure-Performance security on contract to be reduced to 3% from 5%. Earnest Money Deposit is no more required for tenders and replaced by the Bid Security Declaration. Relaxations are given till 31 December 2021.
• This extra budgetary resource will help 12 Lakh houses to be grounded & 18 Lakh houses will get completed.
• Rs. 18,000 crores provided over the budget estimate, which was mentioned in the Budget 2020-21 under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, especially for the urban areas.
• Rs. 1.46 lakh crore included boosting for Atmanirbhar Manufacturing Production-linked incentive for ten champion sectors.

Other Major Announcements

• It guaranteed credit support for almost 26 stressed sectors identified by the Kamath Committee. The Original ECLGS had one year of the moratorium and four years of repayment; the new Scheme will have a 1-year moratorium and five years of compensation.
• The existing Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme got extended till 31 March 2021.
• If new employees of a requisite number are recruited from 1 October 2020 to 30 June 2021, they will be covered for two years.
• Every EPFO registered organization – if they take in new employees or those who had lost jobs b/1 1 March & 30 September – these employees will avail the benefits.
• The Establishments registering with EPFO after the commencement of the Scheme to get benefits of subsidy for all new employees. Scheme to remain in operation till 30 June 2021.
• Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Protsahan Yojana implemented up to 31.03.2019. It had covered all sectors and might run for three years. Thereby, even if someone joined the Scheme on 31.03.2019, they would be covered under that existing Scheme from then three years.

Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0

• Finance Minister announced a new job scheme called Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to create jobs. The latest employment scheme shall be effective from the 1 October 2020
• In Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 Rs. 1, 32,800 crores have gone as income tax refunds to 39.7 lakh taxpayers.
• SBI Utsav cards got distributed under the festival, the advance scheme announced on 12 October. Overall, 11 states sanctioned Rs. Three thousand six hundred twenty-one crores as an interest-free loan towards the capital expenditure.
• As per the Emergency Credit Liquidity Guarantee Scheme, a total amount of Rs. 2.05 lakh crores sanctioned to almost 61 lakh borrowers, nearly Rs. 1.52 lakh crores got disbursed.
• The sum of Rs. Seven thousand two hundred twenty-seven crores got disbursed under the Special Liquidity Scheme in favor of NBFCs/HFC. 
• The Credit boost has been given to nearly 2.5 crore farmers through the Kisan Credit Cards, Rs. 1.4 lakh crores distributed to farmers.
• Rs. 25,000 crores have been disbursed to farmers from Additional Emergency Working Capital Funding through NABARD.
• The work got commenced in creating a portal for migrant workers.
• There has been excellent progress on the ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ in 28 states covering 68.8 crore beneficiaries.
• About 157.44 lakh eligible farmers have received Kisan Credit Cards and sanctioned a limit of Rs. 1,43,262 crore in two phases.
• Around 26.2 lakh loan applications were received under the PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors.
• The Government will announce a few measures related to the stimulus.
• Bank credit growth is up 5.1%; markets are at a record high.
• RBI has predicted a substantial likelihood of the Indian economy returning to positive growth in the third quarter.
• India’s GDP forecast for the year 2021 has been revised upwards to 8.6% from 8.1% projected earlier: Moody’s
• Strong recovery recorded, while Covid-19 cases have fallen tremendously.

Advantages of Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

For India, the report estimates job loss for 4.1 million youth. Construction and agriculture have witnessed significant job losses among seven key sectors. The youth had to go through a lot amidst the Pandemic. There came a sheer need to include relief packages about India’s uprising employment issue: Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana will boost the employment rate and ensure job opportunities.

The benefits shall be in the form of the Government’s contribution to the employment scheme. The Scheme shall benefit employers, employees, and eligible establishments. The Scheme can be called as lower costs; higher take-home salary.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana shall create more jobs in the phase of recovery. It shall ensure good employment opportunities for employees and decent growth for employers in the current scenario.

For employers and establishments, the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana shall subsidy the establishments willing to make new hires. The support would be to cover retirement fund contributions by employees and employers for two years.

Conclusion

Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is the Government’s positive step towards helping people gets their jobs back. It is a very suitable time for people to get such assistance as the country gets back to business because of Diwali’s festive occasion. The Nation had to go through a lot amidst the dark phase of the Pandemic. Now is the time to procure them with employment opportunities and benefits. No other gift can be as great as Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana for the Nation at this point.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana was the need of the hour after seeing the trend of jobs and the unemployment rate. Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is no less than a blessing in disguise for the Nation. The plan has plunged into our lives with new hopes and aspirations.

To support the Government and give wings to their dream, we, as an Aatmnirbhar Sena, do our best to avail all possible assistance to it. As an Aatmnirbhar Sena, we shall work relentlessly to make people aware of the Scheme’s benefits and make them avail of its services. We shall give our best to convert the time of crisis into opportunity by aiding the youths and people in pain. We shall ensure our full-time assistance for those who wish to have their benefits and live their dreams again. We shall strive to provide round-the-clock assistance who wants to join the league of availing the services of the Scheme. Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is a proper mechanism to boost the employment rate and development in India.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana is like a rising sun that has come up, spreading its light mitigating the darkness from the lives of our Nation’s people. It is no less than a second life for people in distress.