Achievements of Labour and Employment Ministry during two years of UPA Government
Two years of UPA Government
The Ministry of Labour and
Employment, one of the oldest and important Ministries of the Government of
India, is responsible for ensuring harmonious industrial relations and above
all to protect and safeguard the interest of workers with due regard to
creating a healthy work environment for higher production and productivity. It
is also responsible for developing and coordinating vocational, skill training
and employment services.
After assuming the office in June
2004, the UPA Government adopted the National Common Minimum Programme
(NCMP). The Labour Ministry has been during the last two years engaged
in fulfilling the agenda stipulated in the NCMP for enhancement of the welfare
of workers especially in the unorganised sector, ensuring effective implementation
of minimum wages, striving for elimination
of child labour and review of labour laws.
Welfare
of Unorganised Sector Workers
The welfare of
workers in the unorganised sector, who constitute 93 per cent of the total
workforce, remained the focus of concern of the Labour Ministry. The Ministry held consultation with social
partners for redrafting the Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, 2004 for which it
has received inputs from the National Advisory Council and the National
Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector in the form of draft
bills. The objective of this
legislation is to regulate employment and conditions of service of workers in
the unorganised sector and to provide for their social security, safety and
health. The draft bills were discussed
at the 40th session of Indian labour Conference (December
2005). A Tripartite Working Group has
been constituted on the advice of the ILC to examine all the draft bills and
prepare one final draft bill.
Meanwhile the
Ministry made a presentation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister on extending social
security to the workers in the unorganised sector. As a follow up to it, a meeting was held with LIC under the
Chairmanship of Member, LEM, Planning Commission in Mumbai in which it was suggested that LIC should work out the
projections of funds required for the scheme providing for (i) life cover of
Rs.5000/ -(ii) accidental cover of Rs.40,000/- (iii) health insurance
@Rs.6000/- (iv) maternity benefit of Rs.1000/-for two births and (v) minimum
pension of Rs.200 or 300 or 400 or 500 per month guaranteed for life. Some
models for financing the scheme were also suggested. The LIC has worked out the projections and informed that the
Corporation has constituted a “Strategic Business Group”(SBG) to go into
details of all aspects including implementation of various such schemes for the
37 crore workers in the unorganized sector.
The report of SBG is awaited. The proposal is being discussed with the
officials of LIC and other agencies.
Labour Welfare Schemes
The Labour Welfare Organization of this Ministry is
administering welfare schemes for benefit of beedi, cine and non-coal mine
workers and their families. Government has enhanced the rate of cess levied on
manufactured beedis from Rs.2/- to Rs.4/- per thousand beedis, and further to
Rs.5 per thousand beedis w.e.f 01.04.2006. For grant of housing subsidy, the
Government has liberalized and totally decentralized the Housing Scheme to be
implemented independently by respective State Governments. Houses have been sanctioned to various
States under this scheme viz. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand and Karnataka.
Workers’ contributions have been reduced from Rs.40, 000/- to Rs.5,
000/- only to avail a subsidy of Rs.40, 000/- per house. The Planning Commission has allocated
Rs.5.00 crore as token allocation for construction of houses by beedi workers
etc. under a similar plan scheme for construction of 1 lakh houses during
2006-07 . Several other welfare schemes
viz. health and medical care, scholarships for school / college going children
(Rs.250/- per year for 1st standard to Rs.8,000/- for BE / MBBS)
etc. are being implemented for workers and their families. There are 7 hospitals, and around 270
dispensaries for beedi workers all over the country. Another hospital has been sanctioned for beedi workers at Jhalda
in Purulia district of West Bengal recently.
There are
around 2 crore-construction workers in the country. To protect the interest of the Construction Workers, Government
has enacted Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment
& Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and Building and other Construction
Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996. Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Pondicherry, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Gujarat and West Bengal have
started implementing them. At the
instance of Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry has constituted a special
group to monitor implementation of the following laws in the States:
i)
The Building
and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996
ii)
The Building
and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment & Conditions
of Service) Act, 1996
iii)
The Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976
A special group,
under Chairmanship of Secretary (L&E) , has been touring various States and
meeting Chief Ministers / Governors of States, especially in the North-East and
J&K, impressing upon them to implement the Acts at the earliest. The group has held 6 region-wise meetings,
besides 3 national level workshops at Guwahati, Thiruvanathapuram and
Ahmedabad.
Enforcement of Minimum Wages Act
In order to monitor the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 more
effectively to safeguard the interest of workers mostly in the Unorganised
sector, the Central Government directed States/UTs to develop and introduce a
new system of external monitoring through civil society. Accordingly, the state governments are now
including more persons form the civil society to the Advisory Boards
constituted to oversee the implementation of the Act. The Labour Commissioners
working under the Chief Central Commissioner (Central) have also been told to
ensure that no worker is paid less than the minimum wages fixed by the
Central/State Governments.
Industrial Relations
Maintenance
of harmonious industrial relations situation remains an avowed objective of the
Ministry. Due to constant endeavour of the Industrial Relations machinaries,
both Central and the State, the overall industrial relations climate has
remained peaceful and cordial.
During 2004-2005, the Chief Labour Commissioner
(Central) Organisation disposed of 6,236
disputes and brought
about 1,566 formal
settlements - 2,017
settlements through mediation, registering 7% increase. Out of
447 threats of strike, as
many as 440
strikes have been averted
through conciliation and
mediation. The success rate
in averting strikes is more
than 98%.
In the last
2 years, notable
strikes were averted and
national level settlements brought about in
banking industry, cement
industry, ONGC, BSNL,
MTNL, all major ports and docks,
oil industry, Hindustan
Copper Ltd. Government of India Mint and Security
Presses, Indian Airlines , etc.
Tripartism
The
Government, being committed to the ethos and culture of tripartism, took
measures to revitalize it. The Labour Ministry continued to have consultations
with the social partners to obtain a consensus for enacting new laws or
bringing about changes in the existing laws. The objective of the Ministry is
to knit the views of all the social partners in framing the policy for working
class. Accordingly, the Ministry of Labour & Employment held several
tripartite meetings of various Committees / Boards during the year which included the 40th Session of the
Indian Labour Conference, the apex level tripartite body at the national level.
Social Security to Workers in the Organised Sector
EPF Interest Rate
The government approved the 9.5% rate of interest on
EPF deposits of subscribers as recommended by the Central Board of Trustees for
the years 2002-03 and 2003-04. The issue had been pending for the last three
years. The interest rate of 9.5% for 2004-05 and 8.5% for 2005-06 were also
approved meeting the shortfall from EPFO reserves. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) brought 38,445
new establishments within the purview
of the Employees Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
during 2004-05 as against 25,878 establishments during 2003-04. This represents a 48.56% increase in
coverage of new establishments.
10.18 lakh new subscribers were enrolled during
2004-05. Out of this 8.83 subscribers
were enrolled in the unorganised sector.
Total holdings under the three funds of the EPFO
increased by 17.03% and stood at Rs. 1,99,015.39 crore including unexempted
Provident Fund.
Computerization of Employees Provident Fund under the
‘Re-inventing EPF, India’ project has been given a new thrust for allotment of
a unique National Social Security Number (NSSN) to each of EPF
subscribers. Over 29.04 lakh records
have been processed of which 28,78,593 NSSN have been generated so far.
ESI
Scheme
The Employees State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC), functioning under the aegis of the Labour Ministry,
increased wage ceiling eligibility from Rs. 6500/- to Rs.7500/- and also
extended the ESI Scheme to new geographical areas. As a result, 6.57lakh more workers were brought within the ambit
of the ESIC scheme.
35,000 factories/establishments covered during the
year 2004 to 2006.The ceiling on medical expenditure enhanced from
Rs.750/- to Rs. 900/- per Insured Person
family unit per annum w.e.f.
01.04.2005.
The Corporation has approved setting up of 4 Zonal
Super-Specialty Hospitals at Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
Daily rate of cash allowance has been increased from Rs.45/- to Rs.123/- per day
in respect of disabled insured persons undergoing training at vocational
rehabilitation centre / institutes. The period
to bear entire expenditure by the Corporation on implementation of the
Scheme in North Eastern States has been enhanced from 3 years to 5 years.
Revolving Fund has been set up in
Regional Offices of the ESIC for payment of cost of drugs and dressings
procured by the State Governments.
Rate contract for Ayurvedic medicines has been
formulated for the first time to facilitate procurement of ayurvedic medicines
by ESIC medical hospitals and
dispensaries.
ESIC has become one of the very few organisations in
the country to provide free of cost retroviral medicines worth about Rs.
15,000/- per patient per year under AIDS programme. ESIC has also supplied equipments to 35 Voluntary Counseling and
Testing Centres under HIV/AIDS programmes besides setting up 42 STD centres.
Unemployment
Allowance to Workers
In order to protect the workers who lose their jobs
due to retrenchments, outsourcing and closures due to emergence of new economic
process, the Employees State Insurance Corporation has launched a new Scheme known as “Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan
Yojna” for the employees covered under the ESI Scheme. This scheme, first of its kind in the
country, provides an unemployment allowance for them in case of losing
employment involuntarily due to retrenchment/closure of factory etc. This scheme was launched from 1.4.2005 and
the payment of Rs.24.63 lakh has been made in 179 cases upto March, 2006.
Streamlining
of Labour Laws
The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 has been
amended to enlarge to scope and enforceability. The amendment enhances the existing ceiling applicable from Rs.
1600 to Rs. 6500 per month for applicability of the Act and empowers the Government
to enhance the ceiling by notification in future. The amendment also prescribes
more stringent grievance redressal machinery for enforcing this Act.
To provide flexibility in the
employment of women, a Bill has been introduced in Parliament to amend Sec. 66
of the Factories Act, 1948 to allow women to work in factories during night
shifts with adequate safety, dignity, honour and transportation from factory
premises to residence.
A Bill has been introduced in the
Rajya Sabha for simplification of forms of Returns and Registers prescribed
under certain Labour Laws and to make amendments in the schedule acts to
prescribe penalty on uniform basis for obstruction and non-maintenance of
records.
The Cabinet has approved the amendments to the Apprentices Act, 1961 so
as to provide : (i) reservation for Other Backward Classes; (ii) related
instructions to be imparted at the cost of employer; and (iii) flexibility in
respect of ratio’s prescribed for Apprenticeship Scheme. The Ministry of Law
& Justice has also finalized the Statement of Objects (SOR) and Memorandum
on Delegated Legislation (MRDL). Notice has been issued for its introduction in
the Parliament.
Skill
Upgradation
Skill upgradation and imparting of modern skills to
workers is another priority of the UPA Government as only 5 per cent of the
total labour force are skilled. The Labour Ministry has decided to upgrade 500
institutes among the existing Industrial Training Institutes, ITIs, into
Centres of Excellence to produce multi-skilled workforce of international
standards.
The highlights of the scheme are
introduction of multi-skilling courses during the first year, followed by
advanced/specialized modular courses subsequently by adopting industry wise
cluster approach, multi entry and multi exit provisions. It also envisages Public-Private-Partnership
in the form of Institute Management
Committees (IMC) to ensure greater & active involvement of industry in all
aspects of training. Curricula of 96 modules of Broad Based Training courses
covering 16 sectors and 57 advanced modules covering 13 sectors have been developed and finalized.
In the first batch, 100 Centres of
Excellence (CoEs) have been taken up for upgradation funded through domestic
resources. Out of these 80 CoEs have
already started training programme from 2005 and another 16 CoEs will commence
training programme from the August
session of 2006. The total cost of 100
CoEs is Rs 160 crore, Central
share being Rs 120 crore, and remaining 40 crore is the State Govt.
share on a cost sharing ratio
of 75:25 between the
Central and the State Governments.
The project proposal for upgradation
of remaining 400 ITIs as CoEs, have already
been forwarded to Department of Economic Affairs, M/o Finance for negotiation
with World Bank for financial assistance.
The Identification Mission of the World Bank is discussing the Project
proposal with the State and Central Governments. A draft Aide Memoire has been submitted by the Bank team and it is informed that the Pre-Appraisal
Mission of the Bank may come in August/ September 2006. However, the Ministry proposes to take up
another 100 ITIs for up gradation to CoEs from August 2006 and it has been
agreed that the World Bank under “Retroactive
Financing” shall reimburse the cost.
Testing and Certification of Skill Acquired Through
Non-Formal Means
A new scheme of ‘Testing and
Certification of Skills’ acquired through informal means has been taken up on a
pilot basis. To start with, the
Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), which has been engaged as one
of the agencies for this programme, has tested and certified around 6000
construction workers so far. Another
Construction Agency, namely, National academy of Construction, Hyderabad has
recently been identified as the other agency of testing and certification of
skills of workers in Construction sector.
Competency Standards have been developed for 46 skill areas. The competency standards for several other
skill areas are also being developed.
The Scheme is already being implemented in the States of Punjab, Kerala,
Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir.
Expansion Of Vocational Training
Activities
237 new ITI s have been set up and
seating seats expanded in some existing ITI s. This has resulted in an increase
in about 12,550 training seats. The total seating capacity under the craftsmen
training programme as on date has increased to 7.18 lakhs.
Over 11,500 women have been trained
in employable vocational areas in the regional vocational training Institutes
and national Vocational Training Institute under Directorate General of
Employment and Training (DGE&T).
Over 35000 industrial workers have
received advanced vocational training in DGE&T field institutes as per the
need of the industry.
56,971 physically challenged persons
were admitted, 5,6291 evaluated, 2,201 trained and 20,938 were rehabilitated in
the vocational Rehabilitated Centres under DGE&T.
Public Private Partnership
Public private partnership has been
forged further through constitution of additional Institute Management
Committee in 492 ITI’s in 28 states.
Participation in World Skill
Competition
India has participated in the World Skill Competition held at Malbourne (Australia) during 6-10
May, 2006
Elimination of Child Labour
The elimination of child labour especially from
hazardous occupations constitutes one of the most important endeavours of the
Labour Ministry. One hundred more National Child Labour Projects (NCLP) have
been launched in the child labour endemic districts to increase their number to
250. The Scheme has also been revised
under which emphasis is laid on convergence with other related government
programmes. Under the revised scheme
special schools run under NCLPs will mainstream working children in the age group
of 9-14 years to the formal education system, while working children in the age
group of 5-8 years will be mainstreamed directly through the Sarva Sikhsha
Abhiyan. In addition, the revised
scheme also strengthens other components such as health check-ups, nutritional
needs and vocational training released from work. Outlay in the 10th Plan for the elimination of child
labour has been increased to Rs. 602 crore as compared to Rs. 250 crore during
9th Plan. The effort is to
achieve complete elimination of child labour from identified hazardous
occupations and processes by the end of the 10th Plan.
Another eighty thousand children working as child
labourers will be integrated with mainstream of education by 2007 under the
INDUS (Indo-US) project on elimination of child labour. The project is being implemented in 21
districts in NCT of Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar
Pradesh with the aim to ensure elimination of child labour from hazardous
occupations in identified districts through effective convergence with the
Department of Education. The US Dept.
of Labour is providing US $ 20 million being matched with equal amount form the
Government of India.
The
implementation of NCLP and INDUS Schemes is being closely monitored through
periodical reports, frequent visits and meetings with the District and State
Government officials. The Government’s commitment to achieve tangible results
in this direction in a time bound manner is also evident from the fact that in
last Regional Level Conferences of District Collectors held in Hyderabad, Pune,
Mussoorie and Kolkata district-wise review of the Scheme was conducted at the
level of Secretary. These Conferences helped in a big way in early
operationalization of Scheme in the newly selected districts.
In
addition to the above two schemes, the Child Labour Division of the
Ministry is implementing the scheme of
Grants-in-aid to Voluntary Organizations, under which voluntary agencies are
given financial assistance by the Ministry on the recommendations of the State Government to the extent of 75% of
the project cost for the rehabilitation of working children. Funds under
Grants-in aid Scheme are sanctioned
directly to NGO for elimination of Child Labour in districts not covered
by NCLP and INDUS Schemes.
New Consumer Price Index Series
A new Consumer Price Index Series
for Industrial Workers with a revised base of 2001=100 has been launched by the
Labour Bureau. The new series is more
broad-based covering 78 centers and 289 markets against 70 centres and 226
markets respectively in the old series.
The sample size has also been increased to 41040 families from 32616
families to conduct family income and expenditure survey.
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(Release ID :18227)