Haryana draft employment policy targets 5 lakh new jobs; Rs 1-lakh crore investment

“State government’s endeavour is to ensure the prosperity of the state and provide maximum employment opportunities to its youth in the industrial sector,” the CM said.

The draft policy readied by the state government mentions: “All new schemes proposed in the policy shall have to be formulated with in a time frame of three months from the date of release of the policy and online platforms for project clearances would go online/ live by December 31, 2020.”

More than 150 services/ clearances/ approvals etc. related to industrial units have been notified under Right to Service Act. Additional 39 services/clearances will be notified under the Right to Service Act with an ongoing focus on rationalising timelines, application procedures and application fees.

As per the draft policy, 39 new services will be added on Haryana Enterprise Promotion Centre’s (HEPC) portal. These include “Issue of non-encumbrance certificate” and “Measurement/ Demarcation of land” under Revenue and Disaster Management department; “NoC from Municipality that premises of unit falls in original MC limit” (under Urban Local Bodies department); “Grant of licence under Insecticide Act, 1968 for manufacture, storage and sale of insecticides/ pesticides and its renewal (under Agriculture and Farmers Welfare department); “Registration of firms and Societies” (under Industries and Commerce department); “Certificate of non-availability of water from water supply agency required for NoC for water extraction from Central Ground Water Authority/ Relevant Authority” (under Public Health Engineering department); “NoC required for setting up of explosives manufacturing, storage, sale, transport”; “NoC required for setting up of petroleum, diesel and Naphtha manufacturing, storage, sale, transport”.

The list also includes “petrol pump registration and renewal” (under Home department); “registration of contractors for works and services” (under PWD); “mining lease/ composite license/ non-exclusive reconnaissance permit” (under Mines and Geology department); “agriculture produce market committee license” (under Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board); “permission for grid connectivity for captive use” (under Power department); “exchange of land of dhaba and rasta of Panchayat approval” (under Panchayats department); “transfer of plots”, “change in constitution” (under HSIIDC).

Besides these, various clearances for Development of Industrial Colony — licence application, demarcation plan and zoning approval, renewal of licence, completion certificate; consent of establishment of colony/building, electrical service plan, re-alignment of HT/LT lines, completion certificate for electrical installation, access permissions from scheduled roads, permission for construction of bridge/ culvert over drains, permission for construction of culvert across the roads — will also be added on HEPC portal.

The draft HEEP will also be focussing on “promoting brand Haryana” to increase investor satisfaction through the entire business cycle from investment promotion to aftercare. Further, the policy also lays an emphasis on district-level invest promotion and facilitation.

“Three-tier grievances redressal committees shall be addressing industrial disputes and grievances,” the draft reads.

“The policy targets to generate 5 lakh jobs. The focus of the policy is on employment generation through promotion of greenfield and brownfield investments in the state, adoption of a labour intensive approach to industrial infrastructure development and maintenance, execution of strategic skill development initiatives and technological interventions. The policy also envisages to create a more inclusive labour- force with an increased focus on labour well-being,” the draft sayss regarding generation of new employment opportunities in the state.

With a focus to boost investment in thrust sectors, the draft policy mentions, “Based upon an in-depth analysis of geographical advantages, skill base, available resources and manufacturing capabilities, the state has identified the following seven thrust sectors — auto, auto components & light engineering; agro-based, food processing & allied industry; textiles and apparels; electronics system design & manufacturing (esdm); defence and aerospace manufacturing; pharmaceutical & medical devices; and chemical and petrochemicals”.

The focus/thrust sectors and clusters shall be supported through preferential fiscal support, regulatory easing and strategic interventions for development of sector specific infrastructure.

The draft policy also explains the “rationale” in terms of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the need to come up with a policy focussed on state’s growth in terms of employment opportunities and the infrastructure investment boost.

“To revitalise economic growth in Haryana during and post the Covid-19 pandemic and to propel the state towards an accelerated trajectory of growth, a renewed focus is required on making factors of production more cost competitive, further easing the regulatory burden on the industry, ensuring balanced regional development, revival of MSME sector, enhancing productivity and leveraging technological progress.”

“In lieu of the above, the new Enterprises Promotion Policy, 2020 takes cognisance of the need for building resilience in economic development and industrial growth through policy affirmations; opportunities arising out of changes in global economic order and political headwinds; alignment with national initiatives such as Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission and infrastructure development schemes of Govt. of India; advent of Industry 4.0 bringing to fore adoption of digital transformation, artificial intelligence, internet of things, big data and analytics, cloud and cyber security amongst other interventions; leveraging emerging trends in supply chain & logistics, electric mobility, e- commerce, agri-tech, green manufacturing & climate change and healthcare & pharma and other new avenues for growth”, the draft policy mentions.

“Government of Haryana had launched the Central Inspection System in October 2017 and it has been ranked as a best practice in the country as part of the Ease of Doing Business State Ranking 2017-18 by government of India,” a senior government official said.

He added: “To further strengthen the Central Inspection System in such a way that it optimises benefits to investors in the state, the following initiatives shall be undertaken — Central Inspection System shall be integrated with the Single Window (HEPC); inspections will be treated as a service and will be integrated with Grievance Redressal System and HEPC feedback management system; and inspection checklists will be rationalised in consultation with concerned departments; inclusion of services of new departments under the ambit of CIS will be examined and appropriately implemented. Further, a dedicated mobile app shall be launched to facilitate inspections and access to inspection reports. A security audit shall be conducted of the CIS module and Digi Locker, Digital Signatures and QR codes shall be integrated in CIS. To reduce the burden of inspections on State Departments and in interest of streamlining processes, assignment of Inspection to Empanelled Technical Experts in select regulations shall be examined,” a senior Haryana government official said.

Speaking to media in Gurgaon after chairing a meeting with entrepreneurs to seek their suggestions regarding the draft policy, Khattar said, “The best possible policy will be formulated by incorporating suggestions received from entrepreneurs.”

In a press release issued regarding the closed door meeting on Saturday, it was stated that, during the meeting, the Chief Minister pointed out that unemployment among youth associated with agriculture has increased considerably since cultivable land has reduced in the state. He added that to solve this problem, the youth need to be given more employment opportunities in agro industries and other industries.

Speaking about the policy, Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala said, “Focus is being laid by the state government on providing employment opportunities to the people of the state. For this, the youth of the state would be made skilled to meet the growing requirement of industries for trained manpower.”

Meanwhile, when the CM was asked about the farmers’ protest in the state, he said, “The interest of farmers are paramount for the state government. The Prime Minister has planned to double the income of farmers by 2022, and the three farm Bills will prove to be effective in this direction.The Congress is spreading confusion among the farmers under a political agenda.what they were not able to do has been done today, that is why they are spreading this confusion.”

(With inputs from Sakshi Dayal in Gurgaon)