BJP may move amendments to job guarantee bill

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said it would move amendments to the proposed National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill if the government does not incorporate the changes suggested by the Standing Committee, including provision of jobs for all those who seek employment across the country.

"We want the government to accept all the amendments suggested by the Standing Committee. The guarantee should be available for all those ready to work. Another major shortcoming is its confinement to the rural areas and job provision for only one person in a family," BJP party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters in New Delhi.

Also read: Employment bill likely in LS on Wednesday

Briefing reporters on the deliberations of the weekly BJP Parliamentary Party meeting in New Delhi, he said the scheme should be 'time bound' and all those employed under it should get at least the minimum wages applicable in each state.

"There are about 4 crore urban poor living in slums. Either there should be a separate bill for them as suggested by the Standing Committee or bring them under the purview of the current bill," the BJP leader said.

He said the party would bring amendments to the bill if the government does not incorporate the changes recommended by the panel.

However, when specifically asked whether the party would oppose the bill if its amendments were not accepted, he replied in the negative and said "we will expose the government on those issues across the country."

Asserting that the BJP would oppose any bill to allow Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector, he said while on one side the government was trying to provide job guarantee, on the other it was "rendering crores of small time shopkeepers and vendors unemployed".