The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has approved the extension of term of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) for a further period of one year i.e. up to September 2008.
It may be recalled that in line with the commitment made by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government in the National Common Minimum Programme, the NCEUS was set up in September 2004 under the chairmanship of Dr. Arjun K. Sengupta as an advisory body and as a watchdog for the unorganized sector. The Commission has the mandate to examine the problems of the unorganized sector (also referred to as informal sector) and suggest measures to overcome them. The term of the Commission, which was initially fixed at one year, had been extended to three years. Now the term has again been extended to one more year. The Commission has been assigned wide-ranging terms of reference. Being an advisory body, the Commission has to submit its recommendations to the Government of India. An Advisory Board has also been constituted to enable the Commission to have the benefit of the advice of experienced persons in the relevant areas.
The Commission has been focusing on a few significant programmatic interventions, which could be adopted in the immediate term. These interventions are aimed at bringing about improvement in the productivity of enterprises in the unorganized/Informal Sector, generation of large-scale employment opportunities on a sustainable basis and enhancing the welfare of the workers in the unorganized sector.