Job schemes not a mandate but a nudge to companies, says Nirmala Sitharaman: ‘Who is intruding’

Nirmala Sitharaman announced three schemes for ‘Employment Linked Incentive’, as part of the Prime Minister’s package, in the Budget. These will be based on enrolment in the EPFO, and focus on recognition of first-time employees, and support to employees and employers.

She added, “It’s not compulsory for anybody, we are nudging people to do it. Who is intruding into the private sector? By the way, you always accused us of supporting only two (groups) and not the others. Hypocrisy, thy name is Congress party.”

Talking about the Budget, she said that it “has every continuity from the interim budget, nothing has been dropped, everything has continued, though newer things have been added.”

On inflation and price pressure, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “We will have to wait for the meteorological department to tell us whether it (monsoon) has been in the adequate range. There are several things which are being done for perishables — storage, irradiation. There is a scheme for MSME irradiation as well, which will help perishables last longer and reach the market even when it is not production season. We have announced measures to have vegetable production clusters around major cities. There are several ways in which we are managing food products, particularly perishables. We want to ensure better supply chain linkages.”