FM’s plans for jobs: Did Budget borrow from Congress’ ‘pehli naukri pakki’ poll promise?

The Congress has accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of borrowing parts of its 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifesto particularly the apprenticeship programme entitled pehli naukri pakki (first job guaranteed).

Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge called it a “copy and paste budget” while party leader Jairam Ramesh also accused Sitharaman of ‘taking a leaf’ out of the Congress’ manifesto.

Ramesh wrote on X, “The finance minister has taken a leaf out of the INC’s Nyay Patra 2024, with its internship programme clearly modelled on the INC’s proposed Apprenticeship Program that was called Pehli Naukri Pakki.”

But what was the Congress’ poll promise? Did the Budget borrow from it?

Let’s take a closer look:

What was the poll promise?

 As per Indian Express, the Congress had formulated a “right to apprenticeship programme” entitled pehli naukri pakki (first job guaranteed).

The Congress had promised that every degree or diploma holder under the age of 25 would receive apprenticeship training with a private or public sector firm.

They would thus be earning at least Rs 1 lakh per year.

“The apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth,” the Congress manifesto stated.

“We brought MNREGA which benefitted lakhs of people. Pehli naukri pakki is going to be a scheme like that,” Rahul said at a rally in Rajasthan, as per Hindustan Times.

The Congress also promised to create “a new employment-linked incentive (ELI) Scheme for corporates”.

“The Congress will reform the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme to target specific sectors that can create thousands of jobs by making India one of the top 5 producers in the world in that sector. We will introduce a new employment-linked incentive (ELI) Scheme for corporates to win tax credits for additional hiring against regular, quality jobs,” the manifesto read.

Did Budget borrow from it?

Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a “comprehensive scheme for providing internship opportunities.”

“As the fifth scheme under the Prime Minister’s package, our government will launch a comprehensive scheme for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies to one crore youth in five years. They will gain exposure for 12 months to real-life business environments, varied professions and employment opportunities,” Sitharaman said.

As per NDTV, Sitharaman announced an internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per month as well as a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000.

She said firms would bear the cost of training and 10 per cent of internship from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.

Sitharaman also announced other employment schemes including giving a one-time allowance to all those joining the private sector.

This includes paying Rs 15,000 in three installments to those receiving a salary of up to Rs 1 lakh per month.

The scheme will benefit 2.1 crore youth, Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman also offered an incentive to employers in the manufacturing sector with regard to first-time employees.

“An incentive will be provided at a specified scale directly to the employee and employer with respect to the EPFO contribution in the first four years of employment. This scheme is expected to benefit 30 lakh youth… and their employers,” Sitharaman was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

“All additional employment within a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month will be counted,” she added.

She said the Centre would reimburse employers up to Rs 3,000 per month for two years towards the EFPO contribution to each additional employee.

As per Indian Express, the government also said it would set up working women hostels to increase women’s participation in the workforce.

This too was included in the Congress manifesto.

“In partnership with state governments, the Central government will double the number of working women hostels in the country, with at least one Savitribai Phule Hostel in each district,” the Congress manifesto had stated.

Congress slams Sitharaman

“The Finance Minister has taken a leaf out of the INC’s Nyay Patra 2024, with its internship program clearly modelled on the INC’s proposed Apprenticeship Program that was called Pehli Naukri Pakki. However, in their trademark style, the scheme has been designed to grab headlines, with arbitrary targets (1 crore internships) rather than a programmatic guarantee for all diploma holders and graduates, like the Indian National Congress had envisioned,” Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh said.

Congress leader P Chidambaram also joined the fray.

“I am also happy that she has introduced the Apprenticeship scheme along with an allowance to every apprentice spelt out on page 11 of the Congress Manifesto. I wish the FM had copied some other ideas in the Congress manifesto,” Chidambaram said.

With inputs from agencies