With the economic downturn taking away thousands of jobs in the gems, mining and textile industries, the Election Commission has said that it has no objections to the Government continuing the process of registering new households and issuing job cards during the model code of conduct.

This a step forward from the EC’s decision in 2006 allowing the Government to only take up new works from an already identified shelf of NREG projects, that too for already registered households. It had then told the government that prior permission would be required from electoral officers in case the available shelf of projects failed to meet the job demand. This decision meant that the Government could not register new workers even though it allowed the Government to continue offering jobs to registered wage seekers.

The EC’s directive this time is likely to help the Government, which is trying to accommodating the increasing number of jobless workers under the NREGS. The Central Government has already informed the state governments to continue registration of new households and issue new job cards to job seekers.

Sources in the Rural Development Ministry said Orissa had recently informed that they needed to register about one lakh new households under the NREGS because of the job losses. Gujarat had informed the Centre that the demand for NREGS had gone up after the retrenchments in the mining industry. The state is learnt to have provided 5,000 jobs to those who lost jobs in the jewellery sector ahead of the introduction of the model code of conduct.

With the economic downturn taking away thousands of jobs in the gems, mining and textile industries, the Election Commission has said that it has no objections to the Government continuing the process of registering new households and issuing job cards during the model code of conduct.

This a step forward from the EC’s decision in 2006 allowing the Government to only take up new works from an already identified shelf of NREG projects, that too for already registered households. It had then told the government that prior permission would be required from electoral officers in case the available shelf of projects failed to meet the job demand. This decision meant that the Government could not register new workers even though it allowed the Government to continue offering jobs to registered wage seekers.

The EC’s directive this time is likely to help the Government, which is trying to accommodating the increasing number of jobless workers under the NREGS. The Central Government has already informed the state governments to continue registration of new households and issue new job cards to job seekers.

Sources in the Rural Development Ministry said Orissa had recently informed that they needed to register about one lakh new households under the NREGS because of the job losses. Gujarat had informed the Centre that the demand for NREGS had gone up after the retrenchments in the mining industry. The state is learnt to have provided 5,000 jobs to those who lost jobs in the jewellery sector ahead of the introduction of the model code of conduct.