By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman held her 6th Pre-Budget Consultation with leading Industrialists here on Thursday in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.
Along with the Union Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Anurag Singh, Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs; Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary; Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Secretary; Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Tuhin Kant Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM, Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT); Amit Yadav, DG, Directorate General of Foreign Trade; Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser besides many senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.
During interactive session lasting over 2 hours , prominent Industrialists spoke about improving regulatory environment to safeguard investments through Ease of Doing Business, increasing export competitiveness, reviving private investment and kick-starting growth of economy.
Industrialists suggested many ways to boost the rural economy, especially ways to increase consumption. Other suggestions included ideas to improve IBC in relation to NCLTs and banks; faster mergers, acquisitions & demergers processes , ways to reduce time for FDI approval; structural changes in laws for effective and stable business environment; time-bound decisions for augmenting Ease of Doing Business both at Central & State levels; new investment of capital for building infrastructure; CAPEX for infrastructure to boost economy; preventing predatory pricing and dumping in India; facilitating R&D in India to boost Make in India; harnessing Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) by leveraging social funding through a new programme; ensuring liquidity for NBFCs with focus on rural economy and ways to increase consumption in economy.
Leading Industrialists who participated in the Pre-Budget meeting included Sunil Bhrati Mittal, Founder & Chairman of Bharti Enterprises; B.V.N. Rao, Business Chairman, GMR Group; Vipin Sondhi, Managing Director and CEO, Ashok Leyland Ltd.; Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group; Jatin Dalal, Global Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Wipro Ltd.; Shri Manoj Chugh, President, Group Public Affairs and Member-Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.; Ravi Raheja, Group President, K Raheja Corp Group; Acharya Balkrishan , Chairman Patanjali Ayurved Ltd.; Vikram Kirloskar, President, CII; Sandip Somany, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI); Balkrishan Goenka, President, ASSOCHAM among others.
Meanwhile, earlier Sitharaman held her 5th Pre-Budget Consultation with the representatives of various Trade Unions and Labour Organisations here today in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.
During the course of meeting, representatives of Trade Unions and Labour Organisations shared their views and suggestions regarding labour and employment issues. Discussions were held on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of existing labour force. Quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers were discussed.
Along with the Union Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Anurag Singh, Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs; Shri Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary; Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser; Heeralal Samariya, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment; H. Srinivas, DG, V.V. Giri National Labour Institute and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.
During the meeting, representatives of Trade Unions and Labour Organisations shared their views and suggestions regarding job creation, labour concerns and quality of employment issues. The participants aired their concerns about provision of social security to labour besides skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of existing labour force. They also emphasised quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers in detail besides the need for streamlining various schemes to have better results.
Experts and representatives from various Trade Unions (TUs) and Labour Organisations gave suggestions related to skill development in labour intensive areas, alignment of skill development initiatives with cluster developments, creation of dedicated fund for skill enhancement , allocation of more funds to MGNREGA scheme, increase of number of days of work under MGNREGA, legislation for various welfare schemes for permanent benefits, profiling job according to skill-sets, separate fund for revival of job creation via MSMEs, increase in social sector spending, unorganised sector workers’ benefits including land less farm labourers , strengthening of tripartite & bipartite mechanisms, consultations with TUs for finalising Code on Safety , Industrial Relations & Social Security .
Participants from various labour organisations included B. Surendran, All India Organising Secretary, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh BMS); Santosh Roy, National Secretary, All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU); Anil Bhardwaj, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME); Shri Ashok Singh, Vice President, India National Trade Union Congress (INTUC); Satyawan, Member, All India Secretariat All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC); M. Shanmugam, M.P. General Secretary, Labour Progressive Federation (LPF); Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC); Swadesh Dev Roye, National Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU); Mukesh Galav, Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha; Malini Shah, National Secretary, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA); Satoshi Sasaki, Dy. Director, ILODWT for South Asia and Country Office for India; SK.V. Shekhar Raju, Immediate Past National President, The Federation of Association of Small Industries of India (FASII); Sanjay Katkamar , General Secretary, Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC); D.L. Sharma, Managing Director, Vardhman Yarns & Threads Ltd.; Arvind Francis, Assistant Secretary General, FICCI, Pawan Kumar, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) among others.
