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4-hour work daily mandatory to get Rajasthan’s unemployment allowance
Rajasthan skill and employment minister Ashok Chandna said there was nothing wrong if people who receive unemployment allowance of ₹4,000 to 4,500 every month work for four hours everyday.
JAIPUR: Beneficiaries of Rajasthan’s unemployment allowance will have to work daily as interns for four hours in government offices or enterprises, according to new guidelines issued by Rajassthan’s Ashok Gehlot government for the Mukhyamantri Yuva Sambal Yojna.
The allowance was started in 2019. Till August 31, over 2.51 lakh unemployed have benefitted under this scheme and a sum of ₹1115.82 crore has been disbursed.
The new guidelines, issued by the labour, skill employment entrepreneurship department, said every beneficiary has to mandatorily do internship in any government office or enterprise from January 1.
Unemployed males get ₹4,000 every month while female beneficiaries get ₹4,500 under the scheme. The primary criteria to qualify for the scheme was that the applicant should be a graduate and their annual family income should be less than ₹2 lakh. The new provisions will come into effect from January 1.
The allowance is given to applicants till the age of 30 years in general category and 35 for those from the reserved category. The allowance is stopped as soon as the beneficiary gets a private or government job.
The new guidelines said the allowance will stop if the beneficiary leaves the internship at any point. Once it is stopped, it cannot be resumed.
A committee will be formed at the district level under the chairmanship of the collector to provide internship to the unemployed in government departments. This committee will allot department and agency for internship to the unemployed.
The state has identified 23 departments such as education (as teachers), tourism, police (police and assistance in traffic) and industry, where the applicants can be placed for internship.
Unemployed youth with professional degree such as nursing and B.Tech will be exempted from the three-month skill development training that others will have to undergo before starting their internship.
Every year, from April 1 to June 30, applications will be accepted on the employment portal. Only 2 lakh unemployed will get the allowance in a year and preference will be given to the older among the unemployed.
The state government has also planned a dress code for the beneficiary while they work daily – they would have to wear a cap, t-shit or a jacket, with the scheme name written in it.
“This will make the scheme beneficiary visible. The unemployment allowance becomes an issue, but when they people are visible then there will not be any political issue,” said the guidelines.
Welcoming the internship provision in department, the opposition BJP has opposed the dress code to beneficiaries. Former minister and BJP MLA Vasudev Devnani saidthe internship and the training was a welcome step, not their uniform. “This is an insult to the unemployed youth,” he said.
Skill and employment minister Ashok Chandna said there was nothing wrong if people who receive ₹4,000 to 4,500 every month work for four hours everyday. The service will only upgrade their skills and give them exposure. “It’s their service to the society and value to public money,” he said.
The minister said the government was revisiting the initial stipulation requiring the beneficiaries to abide by a dress code that will identify them.
