Left parties oppose ELI scheme, says govt 'benefiting corporates at cost of workers'

New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) Left parties on Wednesday opposed the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme, terming it an attempt by the BJP-led Central government to "benefit the corporates at the cost of the workers".

The Central government approved the scheme on Tuesday, under which first-time employees will get one month's wage (up to Rs 15,000) and the employers will be given incentives for two years for generating additional employment, with extended benefits for another two years for the manufacturing sector.

The CPI(M) Politburo, in a statement, alleged that the ELI scheme is "intended to transfer money to big corporate houses".

"This is another attempt by the BJP-led Central government to benefit the corporates at the cost of the workers. It is yet another example of its cronyism," it said.

The party termed ELI "another deceptive scheme of transferring public funds to the corporates, veiled in the promise of enhancing job creation, employability and social security to delude the youth".

"This scheme promotes fragile and precarious jobs, subsidising investment cost, production costs, labour costs and statutory liabilities of both domestic and foreign employers from the public exchequer," the CPI(M) said.

They added that the BJP-led government has been cutting down allocations for MGNREGA, which benefits the poor in the rural areas, and ignoring the demand to formulate such an employment guarantee legislation for the urban areas.

"At the same time, it is providing huge concessions in the name of incentives to the corporates," CPI(M) said.

The party demanded that the government ensure decent employment with minimum wages, job security and social security by filling up vacancies and expanding public services, and by allocating adequate funds instead of "subsidising" the corporate class.

"The CPI(M) demands that the government immediately scrap the ELI scheme and protect the interests of the workers," they said.

The All India Forward Bloc also condemned the scheme, and called it a move that "brazenly serves the interests of big corporate houses while completely ignoring the plight of India's vast working population." "This scheme is nothing more than a repackaged subsidy to corporate entities under the garb of employment generation, with no credible mechanism to ensure real benefits for workers," it said.

The ELI scheme has been approved with an outlay of Rs 1.07 lakh crore to create 3.5 crore jobs over the next two years through social security schemes run by the retirement fund body EPFO.

The ELI scheme to support job generation, enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with special focus on the manufacturing sector, was approved by the Union Cabinet in a meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said. PTI AO NSD NSD