KTR Spells Out Expectations From Union Budget 2022-23

Hyderabad: KT Rama Rao, the Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development has urged the Central Government to introduce a National Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (NUEGS) in the upcoming Union Budget address to assist the urban poor. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be used as a model (MGNREGS). It would help meet the growing urban population's needs, particularly in terms of infrastructure and services, as well as assure a higher income for the city's poor.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, the MAUD Minister noted that India's urbanisation is primarily owing to a lack of livelihood in rural areas, which leads to exodus or in-migration to cities. Increased slums and urbanisation of poverty are unavoidable consequences.

As per the 2011 Census, 31 per cent of the Indian population lives in urban areas and it could climb to 40 per cent by 2030. Some states, such as Telangana, are experiencing an even higher rate of urbanisation, with urban populations expected to reach 50% soon, he said.

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Apart from infrastructure difficulties, urban poverty creates particular obstacles to the provision of water, health, education, livelihood and the special requirements of vulnerable populations such as women, children and senior citizens.

The urban poor is generally involved as construction workers, casual labourers, security staff, delivery boys, helpers, etc. Most of the time, they are offered jobs daily with no guarantee of employment. The COVID-19 Pandemic has brought to light the plight of the urban poor, particularly migratory workers, who make up the majority of the urban poor and labour in the unorganised (informal) sector.

Given all of these circumstances, MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao believes that adopting a national programme similar to MGNREGA to protect the interests of the urban poor and ensure increasing income levels is a must.

This would help with a variety of crucial difficulties. Rapid urbanisation will increase the need for employment among the rising labour force. Only the urban informal economic sector offers any possibility of absorbing such a rapidly rising labour force.

It is past time for the government to build an environment for the urban informal sector through skill development, financial links, and social protection for workers, among other things. This can be accomplished by enacting a national policy focused on increasing the daily wages of urban workers. Furthermore, cities and towns worked to improve people's "quality of life." This "quality of life" is only guaranteed to urban workers in the informal sector if their income levels are boosted, allowing them to meet their families' fundamental health and educational needs, he explained.

"Like in rural areas, we can provide job cards through the employee guarantee scheme in urban areas. Their services can be utilised in urban environmental protection programs, city-level green action plans (Haritha Haram), and other basic infrastructural works, including laying pavements, repair and maintenance works," suggested KT Rama Rao.