PM raises new employment slogan

New Delhi, Aug 15 (UNI) Unveiling a new agenda for job creation and removal of poverty, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said there was a need for a new wave of industrialisation to generate more employment.

Apparently keeping in mind the protests in different parts of the country against creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), he said, " If industrial development has any adverse impact on some of our rural folk, we will ensure that there is reasonable compensation and proper rehabilitation." Dr Singh said the government would seek Parliament's approval for a new Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy which had already been formulated.

He said there was a need for more investment in agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure for creation of more employment.

Identifying employment generation as a special thrust area for the government, he said the UPA's policies for agriculture, industry, infrastructure development and skill development would all promote employment.

Referring to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "Garibi Hatao" and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's "Rozgar Badhao" slogans, he said his government was making efforts to create "rozgar" to fight "garibi".

Describing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme as a 'historic initiative' of his government, Dr Singh said the scheme was providing minimum livelihood support to the millions of neediest among us. "It is aimed to soften the sharp edges of poverty." He said the government had introduced a bill in Parliament to provide social security to the workers of the unorganised sector and launched the Aam Aadmi Beema Yojana, under which one member of each landless family in rural areas will be insured.

The government had also started a programme to provide health insurance to Below Poverty Line families of workers in the unorganised sector. Citizens above 65 years of age, living below the poverty line, were being covered under the Indira Gandhi Pension Scheme.

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