“DFID is giving us Rs 184 crore for this and the formal exchange of letter between the DFID and the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the central government has taken place. Now getting the money for us is only a matter of time," said Sumanta Choudhury, principal secretary, Department of Industrial Reconstruction.
"The money will be used for arranging Early Retirement Scheme (ERS) for employees, capacity building in the units, payment of fees to consultants,” said Choudhary.
For ERS, while DFID will pay one third of the funds, the state government is going to pay two third of the money. This ratio was the same in the first phase of reconstruction in which 26 sick state PSUs were earmarked for reconstruction. Out of that only two firms, Lily Biscuits and Neopipes Ltd, are yet to be reconstructed.
In the second phase the government has earmarked 27 sick PSUs for reconstruction. Out of the 27, while two will be closed, the state government will retain 13 and 9 have already been earmarked for joint ventures. So far as the remaining 3 PSUs are concerned, the government is not able to take any decision as of now. Choudhury also said that his department will also work for skill matching in the Social Security Net Programme — a programme the state government had undertaken earlier to re-skill those employees of the PSUs, who lost their jobs during reconstruction. "Matching of skills is important keeping in mind the demand of the market and I will sit with chambers of commerce and other bodies to see how best the programme can be done," said the official.