<span style="color: #222222;">Rajya Sabha today took up the discussion on the working of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Initiating the discussion, M. Shanmugam of DMK said, labour wants job security, wages and social security. He alleged that this government has stopped the practice of consulting with Trade Unions. Intervening in the discussion, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said, Modi government has provided justice and employment to the workers.<br />''<br />''Participating in the discussion, Prakash Javadekar of BJP said, Centre has taken several steps for the welfare of labourers and workers. He appreciated the government's step for launching the e-Shram portal saying that over 26 crore workers of the unorganized sector have registered on this portal. He added that skill training has been provided to crores of workers which helped them.<br />''<br />''Digvijay Singh of Congress said, income inequality increased and several MSME closed down during the present government. He alleged that wages of workers have reduced due to the policies of the Central government. Prashanta Nanda of BJD raised the issue of low budgetary allocation towards several schemes and rising unemployment rate in the country. He says due to mass layoff during the Covid-19 pandemic, several people have been pushed to poverty.<br />''<br />''Elamaram Kareem of CPI(M) said, the unemployment rate has risen significantly in the country after 2014. M. Thambidurai of AIADMK appreciated the Central government's schemes saying that free food grains have been provided to the poor people during the pandemic. He said, this year's Budget is growth and development-oriented.<br />''<br />''Sukhram Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party raised the question over the rising unemployment rate saying that it has reached seven per cent. He said, privatization has increased unemployment in the country. Anil Desai of Shiv Sena said, rising unemployment and inflation impacting every Indian. He urged the government to make efforts to implement the Old Pension Scheme.  <br />''<br />''Vandana Chavan of NCP raised the issue of bonded labour and manual scavenging. Other members of different parties also participated in the discussion. The discussion remained inconclusive.</span>