The Central government is mooting a new reskilling fund which will require retrenched workers availing the cash benefits under the fund to show proof of reskilling to the government, according to a new report.
If such workers fail to show the proof of reskilling within a fixed period, they will have to return the amount to the government, according to a report by Business Standard. The fund is being mooted by the Centre in Industrial Relations Code 2020 and aims at reskilling retrenched workers for a new job.
To what may surprise many, the retrenched workers may be asked to pay back interest on the amount given to them for reskilling if they are unable to get themselves trained after retrenchment, the news report quoted an official as saying.
Reskilling retrenched workers
"The government wants to ensure that workers acquire adequate skills each time they are retrenched, so that they are able to find better job opportunities. The aim is to make sure that the money given to workers is used only for reskilling and hence, they will have to show proof within a fix time period," the official said.
The law proposes the employers to pay a contribution to the tune of 15 days of the workers' last drawn salary to the fund. The amount, however, will be transferred to the bank accounts of the affected workers by the government within 45 days of sacking.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is planning to offer the skill centers recognized by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to the workers to help them identify training centers.
It is noteworthy that the reskilling amount will be in addition to the retrenchment compensation, which retrenched workers will be entitled to get. The retrenchment compensation will be equivalent to 15 days of the average salary for every completed year of service at the company which ends the services of the workers.
