National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS)

The Government of India has constituted the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) on 20.9.2004 to examine the problems being faced by the enterprises in the unorganised, informal sector. The Commission is to make appropriate recommendations to provide technical, marketing and credit support to these enterprises. The term of the Commission which was initially fixed at one year has now been extended up to 30th September 2008.

THE TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE COMMISSION

i. Review of the status of unorganized/informal sector in India including the nature of enterprises, their size, spread and scope, and magnitude of employment;

ii Identify constraints faced by small enterprises with regard to freedom of carrying out the enterprise, access to raw materials, finance, skills, entrepreneurship development, infrastructure, technology and markets and suggest measures to provide institutional support and linkages to facilitate easy access to them;

iii Suggest the legal and policy environment that should govern the informal/unorganized sector for growth, employment, exports and promotion;

iv Examine the range of existing programmes that relate to employment generation in the informal/unorganized sector and suggest improvement for their redesign;

v Identify innovative legal and financing instruments to promote the growth of the informal sector;

vi Review the existing arrangements for estimating employment and unemployment in the informal sector, and examine why the rate of growth in employment has stagnated in the 1990s;

vii Suggest elements of an employment strategy focusing on the informal sector;
viii Review Indian labour laws, consistent with labour rights, and with the requirements of expanding growth of industry and services, particularly in the informal sector, and improving productivity and competitiveness; and

ix Review the social security system available for labour in the informal sector, and make recommendations for expanding their coverage.

REPORTS SUBMITTED BY THE NCEUS

The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) has submitted the following reports in respect of the Unorganised Sector during the current year except those at i) & ii) which were submitted in 2006-2007:-

i National Policy on Street Vendors;

ii Unorganised Sector Workers’ Bill;

iii Comprehensive Legislation for Minimum Conditions of Work and Social Security for Unorganised Workers;

iv Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihood in the Unorganised Sector;

v Financing of Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector; and

vi Creation of a National Fund for the Unorganised Sector (NAFUS).
Whereas,

Report (i) is being considered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA),

Reports (ii), (iii) & (iv) are under the consideration of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

The reports (v) & (vi) are presently under the consideration of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

PILOT GROWTH POLES PROJECT FOR THE UNORGANISED SECTOR

The Commission has proposed establishment of “Growth Poles” in different parts of the country with a view to integrating, within a geographical location, a number of clusters of production units engaged in manufacturing, services and non-farm activities and facilitating the expansion of production and employment in micro and small enterprises.
The Commission had pursued the formation of Growth Poles and requested the Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of all the States and UTs for identification and selection of pilot projects of Growth Poles in the States. In response, six State Governments have identified and submitted proposals for Growth Pole Pilot Projects, i.e., Janjgir-Champa in Chhattisgarh, Kollam in Kerala, Dausa in Rajasthan, Chamoli in Uttarakhand, Howrah in West Bengal and South Western Kamrup in Assam. Out of the above, five State Governments have already submitted their Detailed Project Reports to the Commission