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Year end review-2015
Ministry of Labour&Employment
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Labour is
one of the most critical factors of production. Industrial peace and harmony
can be achieved only when the goals of employment and employability are in tune
with the goals of industrial development and growth. The Ministry is focusing on welfare of the Workforce of
India in prevailing scenario and striving towards “Making India a
Better Work Place for All”
Ministry
of Labour& Employment has taken several initiatives during last one year
for promoting conducive industrial and business environment in the country and catalyze
creation of employment opportunities while ensuring safety, health and social
security of every worker. These initiatives are:
46th
Indian Labour Conference
The Indian
Labour Conference (ILC) is the apex level tripartite consultative committee in
the Ministry of Labour & Employment to advise the Government on the issues
concerning working class of the country. The 46th Indian Labour
Conference (ILC) was held on 20th July, 2015 at Vigyan Bhawan, New
Delhi. Launching National Career Service (NCS) Portal and ESIC 2.0: Reform
Initiatives of ESIC on the occasion, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted
“ILC as Labour Parliament of India” and India has experience of about 75 years
relating to tripartite consultations.
Labour
Reforms
Launching
of the Shram Suvidha Portal in October 2014 brought four major organisations under the Ministry
of Labour and Employment to one platform. These are Office of Chief Labour Commissioner
(Central), Directorate General of Mines Safety, Employees’ Provident Fund
Organization and Employees’ State Insurance Corporation.
The
portal has facilitated in brining transparency and accountability leading to
better enforcement of the Labour Laws. Transparent Labour Inspection Scheme has
reduced the discretionary powers of the Inspectors minimizing the harassment of
employers. Since the launch of the Scheme 1,35,698 inspections have been
assigned as on 04th December,2015 of which 1,26,893 have already
been uploaded on Shram Suvidha Portal. Filing of Single Unified Annual Return for 8 Labour Acts (which
were half yearly / annually earlier) has facilitated in easing the compliance
burden of the employers. Since
the launch of the Online Annual Return on 24th April,2015, 444
online returns have been filed on the Shram Suvidha Portal as on 4th
December,2015. Unique Labour Identification Number (LIN) is allotted to Units.
Total Labour Identification Number (LIN) assigned to units, as on 04th
December.2015 is 9,63,037.
Legislative Reforms: The second National Commission on
Labour had recommended for the enactment of a special law for small
manufacturing units and also that the existing Labour Laws should be broadly
grouped into four or five Labour Codes on functional basis. Accordingly, the
Ministry has taken steps for –
--Drafting Small Factories Bill
regulating the working and service conditions of workers in small manufacturing
units employing less than 40 workers;
--Drafting four Labour Codes- (a)Labour
Code on Wages, (b)Labour Code on Industrial Relations, (c)Labour Code on Social
Security & Welfare and (d) Labour Code on Safety & Working Conditions, by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the
relevant provisions of the Central Labour laws.
These
reforms will help in catalyzing the creation of employment opportunities in the
country, without diluting basic aspects of safety, security and health
provisions / standards for workers. Drafting of these legislations is in
advanced stage.
Common Registration under 5 Central Labour Acts, by integration with
DIPP’s E-Biz Portal:
The design of portal for Common Registration under 5
Labour Acts has been developed in association with Department of Industrial
Policy & Promotion,. The facility is to be formally launched shortly. The
acts covered for common registration include:
Ø The
Employees Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952,
Ø The
Employees State Insurance Act, 1948,
Ø The
Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Act, 1996,
Ø The
Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, and
Ø The
Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
Service) Act, 1979
Labour Welfare
Utilization of
Building and Other Construction Workers( BOCW) Welfare Cess Funds-
Pursuant
to the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in W.P. (C) No. 318/2006 a
national roadmap for utilization of Cess Fund at least to the tune of Rs.
3250.10 crore per annum has been finalized. Directions in this regard have been
issued to the State/UTs under section 60 of the BOCW Act to utilize the Cess
Fund in the manner prescribed there under for providing Social Security and
other benefits to the BOC Workers.
Revision of Bonded
Labour Rehabilitation Scheme 1978-
The proposal to increase in existing
monetary assistance, last revised in 1995, of Rs. 20,000/- to the bonded
labourers for their subsistence at the time of their release at present, is in
consultation stage.
Amendment to Contract Labour, Inter-State
Migrant Workmen and BOCW Act-
The
amendments to various provisions of The Building and Other Construction Workers
(Regulation of Employment & Condition of Service) Act, 1996, the Contract
Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen
(RECS) Act, 1979 are under consideration of the Ministry and the same are being
dealt by the Labour Reforms Cell specially created for labour law reforms.
Revision of Cess Rates
Based on
specific recommendation of Central Advisory Committees in respect of Beedi
Workers, Iron/Manganese/Chrome Ore Mines Workers and Limestone and Dolomite
Mines Workers, the Ministry decided to move amendment proposal to the
respective Cess Acts and enhance the Cess rates. The proposal is under
submission.
Labour Code on Social Security &
Welfare:
Amalgamation of Welfare
Acts, Fund Acts and Cess Acts in respect of Beedi, Iron/Manganese/ Chrome Ore
Mines, Limestone and Dolomite Mines, Mica Mine and Cine Workers with the Labour
Code on Social Security has been drafted by the Expert Committee for Labour
Code and is under consideration of the Ministry.
National Policy for
Domestic Workers
The
National Policy for Domestic Workers has been drafted by Labour Welfare (LW)
Bureau and is placed for consideration of the Government before
stakeholder/Inter-Ministerial consultation.
Enhancing scales of benefits under various
Welfare Schemes funded by the Cess Acts
Housing: The RIHS 2007 has been proposed for
revision to increase the subsidy amount from ₹40,000/- to
₹1,00,000/- per tenement. The proposal has been submitted to Secretary
(Expenditure) for holding CNE appraisal meeting.
Education: Amount of Assistance for ITI education
has been enhanced from Rs.2000/- to Rs.10,000/-. Beneficiaries are presently
getting this enhanced stipend.
E-portal: A national e-portal for online
application and disbursement of scholarships has started for all students
starting from class I to professional degree w.e.f. 1st September
2015.
DBT: Cash assistance under housing and
scholarship schemes is now being transferred in electronic mode to the
beneficiary account. The initiative started in 2013 has reached full scale
w.e.f. 1.4.2015.
National Career Service Portal (NCSP)
The Ministry of L&E is implementing the National Career Service (NCS) Project as a Mission Mode Project
for transformation of the National Employment Service to provide a variety of
employment related services like career counseling, vocational guidance,
information on skill development courses, apprenticeship, internships, etc. The Portal
may be accessed at URL www.ncs.gov.in and a
toll free number 1800-425-1514 is operational 12 hours a day from
Tuesday to Sunday. Since its launch on 20th July, 2015 ,
approximately 3,57,34,092 job seekers, 9,30,343 employers, 27,460 skill
providers and 537 Counselors are registered on the NCS portal. Data from 15
States available in the electronic form have also been migrated on the NCS
Portal (States: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Gujarat,
Jharkand, Karnataka, Lakshwadeep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal)
In a parallel exercise, the Ministry is initiating a programme for
capacity building of officers of the National Employment Service
In the NCS Project, setting up 61
Model career centres is proposed at different locations in collaboration with
States and Other Institutions to provide a variety of employment related
services.
Exhibition-cum-Awareness
Meet on the Initiatives
An Exhibition cum Awareness Meeting of the
initiatives of the Ministry of Labour and Employment was held at MCD
Civic Center, New Delhi on 25th
May,2015. The exhibition highlighted various initiatives by the Ministry and
its various organizations like ESIC, EPFO, CLC(C), DGET, DGLW, Labour Bureau,
DGMS, DGFASLI and VVGNLI..
A photo
exhibition on the achievements and details of schemes implemented by Ministry
of Labour and Employment was organized at People’s Plaza at Hyderabad on 23rd
October, 2015.
A Conference was held on 6th
December, 2015 in light of the pioneer work done by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, in the
area of Labour Welfare. A booklet “Dr B R Ambedkar –Labour
Welfare &Empowerment : Initiatives to make his vision a reality” was
also released on this occasion. It was unanimously
resolved to work collectively and collaboratively to realize the vision of Dr.
B. R Ambedkar for labour welfare.
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AT